Manchester United appeared to reveal their new number 9 in training yesterday.
United were put through their paces at Carrington ahead of Saturday’s Premier League kick off against Tottenham and it was curious to note that unlike back in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, players have begun to wear training numbers that correlate with their shirt numbers.
Adnan Januzaj in 11 and Marcos Rojo in 5 were two clear examples and Memphis Depay wearing the number 9 appeared to be another. This would be a surprise with the reports that he has requested the number 7.
There were a number of players wearing their current numbers – Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney, Tyler Blackett and so on… Javier Hernandez was also wearing the number 14 he has worn since arriving at United in 2010.
Sergio Romero was wearing number 20
Morgan Schneiderlin was wearing 28 and Bastian Schweinsteiger was wearing 31 – seemingly confirming that he will succeed Marouane Fellaini in the shirt.
To complicate matters further, Fellaini conspicuously wore a training vest, concealing his number – if he has one. Antonio Valencia wears the number 25 which Fellaini wore at Everton. And the big-haired star wears number 8 for Belgium, a number worn by Juan Mata.
Matteo Darmian was in number 36 – though, with the sale of Rafael, it is expected that he will be named as United’s new number 2.
