Manchester United's £60 million signing Mason Mount has yet to meet most of his team-mates, let alone play in the Red Devils' shirt, but his prospects have been overlooked by many fans. Especially after the club officially announced that he was the new No. 7, it caused doubts.
After the 24-year-old put on the club's iconic No. 7 shirt, he first had to face the "No. 7 curse" that no one at Old Trafford could break after Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid in 2009. Every number 7 at Manchester United since then, be it Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia, Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Edinson Cavani and the returning Cristiano Ronaldo himself, has not ended well.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 24 goals in his first season after his return, but fell out with the club last season and terminated his contract. He was the last successful owner of Manchester United's No.7 shirt, with Cantona, David Beckham and Brian Robson remaining winners of the No.7 legend.
Mount was a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo as a child, and as a boy, he left a classic video openly stating that his free kick was a learning from the Portuguese superstar. But the 24-year-old England international rarely wore a number 7 in the past, except occasionally in the Chelsea youth team, and he wore a number 19 or 8 more often. In the Chelsea first team, Mount has been number 19 for four years and number 8 on loan to the Championship Derby. The Blues' No. 7 in these years is clearly France's iron Ngoro Kante.
No matter how hard Mount tries, he may not be able to reach the level of Cantona, Xiao Bei and Cristiano Ronaldo in his first time at Manchester United, but as long as he plays his due form and becomes a qualified main midfielder, it is enough to end the No. 7 curse.
Of course, in the Manchester United dressing room, Mount may also face the dissatisfaction of two team-mates, £73 million winger Sancho and 19-year-old Argentina international Alejandro Garnacho, both eyeing the number 7 shirt but unable to succeed.
Garnacho, who joined United from Atletico Madrid's Academy in 2020, made his debut last year and became one of Ten Hag's favourites, scoring six goals and providing six assists in 36 appearances in all competitions.
When celebrating his birthday earlier this month, "the new Cristiano Ronaldo" did not hide his longing for the number 7 shirt, but in the end, Manchester United did not give him this legendary number. Considering that Mount signed for 5 years and had one year of priority to renew his contract, Garnacho would never be able to get his wish anytime soon.
Another more disappointed than Garnacho will be the 23-year-old Jadon Sancho, who was promised back in 2020 that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could get the number 7 shirt for Manchester United. Unfortunately, after a one-year delay, this back number has been occupied by Cavani, and the Uruguayan striker refused to give up to "Big Joe", but later gave the number 7 to Cristiano Ronaldo.
After Cristiano Ronaldo's departure, Sancho must have dreamed of the number 7, but his performances failed to conquer the club and can only continue to wear the number 25 shirt. He and Mount were team-mates in England, but the latter snatched the number 7, which may still deal a new blow to Sancho's fragile psyche.
Shirt numbers are definitely not a deciding factor on the pitch and are a commercial hype at best. However, modern players devote more and more unnecessary attention to this element. Manchester United have also caused internal discord in the past because of the number of the shirt, like Martial Martial, who wore the number 9 shirt after Ibrahimovic joined and was forced to wear the number 11.