The England international becomes United’s new No.7.
Manchester United have handed their iconic No.7 jersey to Mason Mount amid fierce criticism from fans.
On Wednesday, the Red Devils finally announced the signing of Mount, who arrives at the club on a £60m transfer from Chelsea. Shortly afterwards, a post on the club’s official Instagram account confirmed that Mount will inherit Cristiano Ronaldo’s No.7 jersey.
Speculation about the next heir to Ronaldo’s iconic number 7 jersey started soon after he left the club in November.
In recent weeks, Alejandro Garnacho emerged as the favourite candidate to inherit the shirt. However, according to a report from Daily Mail, Erik Ten Hag offered the jersey to Mount during the negotiations to bring him to Old Trafford.
Man Utd fans have largely criticized the decision, claiming Garnacho deserved to be awarded for his brilliant breakthrough campaign.
Mount opens up on Ronaldo influence
A video of Mount copying Ronaldo’s free-kick style as a kid went viral before his move to Old Trafford. Man Utd’s new No.7 has revealed he was left stunned by Ronaldo’s sublime free-kick against Portsmouth in 2008.
“I think everyone has seen the video of when I was younger basing my free kick off him,” he told Amazon Prime. “I always watched him very closely when he was at United as a young kid. I loved the way he played, his free kicks.
“I’m a massive Pompey fan, so I went to the game when they played at Old Trafford and he scored that free-kick against David James. I was actually at the game, in the corner so I saw it first hand and I think after that I kind of fell in love with the technique and what he’d done and him as a player.”
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