BREAKING: Mason Mount is Manchester United new number 7

Mason Mount has been given the number seven at Manchester United, meaning he takes over from Cristiano Ronaldo in the shirt.

On Wednesday Mount was finally confirmed as a United player after weeks of negotiations with Chelsea over signing the midfielder.

It initially remained a mystery what squad number he would be given but it's now been revealed he will take the legendary number seven shirt.

Players such as Ronaldo, Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson have flourished wearing the number but in recent years Antonio Valencia, Alexis Sanchez and Ronaldo haven't fared so well.

When he was first announced as a United signing earlier in the day the former Chelsea star wasn't given a number in the first shots of him in the United kit.

It led fans to believe that there would be a reshuffle at Old Trafford and see Raphael Varane move to the number four shirt and Mount wear 19, which he wore at Stamford Bridge.

In turn many felt that Alejandro Garnacho would be upgraded from the number 49 and take his rightful place as Ronaldo's successor in the seven shirt.

However the young Argentine who signed a new contract last month, will now have to keep his current squad number or find a different one.

The legend of wearing the seven shirt at United goes back to the 50s with Dennis Viollet and was then taken on by George Best in the 60s.

Best is perhaps the most iconic wearer of the shirt at Old Trafford in an era before players had specific squad numbers given to them.

Robson was called Captain Marvel in the 80s when he wore the shirt in a poor United team in which he was the stand out star.

In more recent times Cantona wore it with the kind of personality that Best brought to it and was the catalyst for much of the success under Sir Alex Ferguson.

His flicking up of the collar is as iconic as anything anyone else who wore the shirt has done, even Ronaldo and Beckham's free kicks.

In recent years however the shirt has been more of a curse with Michael Owen, Memphis Depay, Valencia, Sanchez and even Ronaldo's second stint with the number not going well.

Featured Image Credit: MUFC

Topics: Mason Mount, Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Premier League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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