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Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes’ new shirt number for the upcoming 2022/23 season has been officially revealed.
After the departure of Juan Mata from United after five-and-a-half seasons with the club, the number eight was left vacant.
With that in mind, Manchester United officially announced on Thursday that Bruno Fernandes will be taking on the shirt number going forward.
Fernandes, who first joined the club in January of 2020, had worn the number 18 shirt for the entirety of the time he spent with the Manchester side up to this point.
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The Portuguese talisman has however worn the number eight shirt previously throughout his playing career, having used the number at both Sporting Lisbon, and Udinese.
Bruno Fernandes will be the fourth player in Manchester United’s Premier League history to regularly wear the number 8 shirt.
Previous players who have worn the shirt for the club include; Anderson, Nicky Butt, Wayne Rooney, and the aforementioned Juan Mata.
Fernandes, who took part in his first training session under new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag on Monday, looks set to remain a vital part of the United setup going forward.
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The seemingly impending arrivals of midfield reinforcements in Christian Eriksen, and Frenkie de Jong will also need to be assigned squad numbers if they are to both join the club.
Both De Jong, and Eriksen wore the number 21 shirt last season for their respective clubs, that number is currently free following the departure of Edinson Cavani at the end of last season.
Also free as of the time of writing is number 24 which Eriksen has also previously held during his career.
On the topic of new signings being assigned squad numbers, new Manchester United fullback Tyrell Malacia’s squad number was also announced on Thursday.
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The 22-year-old Dutchman is set to wear the number 12 shirt for the club going forward.
The young defender completed his move to United from Feyenoord earlier this week, with the signing being officially confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.
Both Fernandes and Malacia are set to take part in United’s pre-season tour, with the squad departing on Friday afternoon for Bangkok.
United’s first pre-season game is scheduled for July 12th, with the team set to face Liverpool in a match at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium.
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The Red Devils will then face Melbourne Victory (July 15th), ahead of fixtures in Australia against Premier League rivals Crystal Palace (July 19th), and Aston Villa (July 23rd).
The squad will then finish off their pre-season fixtures with matches against Atletico Madrid in Oslo, Norway (30th July), before playing Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford the following day (July 31st).
Featured Image Credit: Twitter: UtdDistrict / GraphicsGhous_Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Bruno Fernandes, Football, Premier League, Juan Mata, Tyrell Malacia
