Mason Mount will wear the iconic number seven shirt at Manchester United following his move from Chelsea.

The number has been vacant since Cristiano Ronaldo left the club by mutual consent in November 2022 after intensely criticising the Red Devils and manager Erik ten Hag in an interview with Piers Morgan.

Recent reports suggested that Man Utd's famous number seven would be handed to teenage winger Alejandro Garnacho, who is coming off the back of a fine breakout season.

Garnacho's name and 49 number were not available for selection on Man Utd's club store when attempting to purchase their new home kit upon release.

READ MORE ON MASON MOUNT'S MOVE TO MAN UTD

But Mount, the club's first signing of the summer transfer window, has instead been handed the number seven in a surprise move.

Mount wore the number 19 shirt at Chelsea - he also donned the number seven shirt for Chelsea's youth sides - which is currently worn by Raphael Varane at Man Utd. But there was an expectation that the French defender would take the number four following Phil Jones' exit and their new star midfielder would claim his preferred shirt.

There were few other shirts available to Mount at the time of his arrival, with 24, 31 and 32 the other lowest numbers that were free to choose from.

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This article was originally published on 90min as Man Utd confirm surprising shirt number for Mason Mount.