It has been a topic of debate for some time since Cristiano Ronaldo left the Bernabeu: who will inherit his famous number seven shirt for the upcoming 2018/19 season?
The five-time Balon d'Or winner joined Juventus in the summer, leaving behind a one-in-a-million legacy at Los Blancos - so who's going to to take his iconic jersey? Gareth Bale? Isco? or maybe even Marco Asensio?
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Nope. It looks like Madrid will hand the number seven to new signing Mariano, according to Spanish radio station Cadena COPE.
No pressure, kid.
Juanito, Butragueño, Raúl, Cristiano.... Y ahora Mariano!!! El Real Madrid ya tiene '7'.
That's right. Earlier this week Los Blancos settled on bringing back former player Mariano to add to their attacking options.
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Diaz, who made eight La Liga appearances for Los Blancos, was slated to join Sevilla but the presence of a buyback clause has allowed Real to swoop him and bring him back to Los Blancos.
Things have moved extremely quickly to the point where Mariano's arrival is set to be announced fairly soon before he is officially presented.
Though the 25-year old isn't the marketable name Florentino Perez and a decent portion of Real Madrid fans will have been clamoring for, he had a very impressive season last term - notching 21 goals and chipping in with seven assists in 45 appearances.
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Mariano will become the latest player to be re-signed by Real and it's been reported by MARCA that manager Julen Lopetegui called him to assure him he will be part of his plans.
Mariano will wear the '7' jersey. [@JLSanchez78]
Los Blancos currently have the shirt numbers 15, 16 and 23 available, but it is believed Mariano will take the iconic number 7.
Who would have thought it?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid