Manchester United officially announced on Tuesday that · Zirkze, the first signing of the summer window, will receive the number 11 shirt for the new season. However, this is not news, as the 23-year-old Netherlands striker has previously said that if Hojlund chooses the number 9 shirt, he will wear the number 11.
At the beginning of last month, Manchester United signed Zirkze from Bologna for €42.5 million, signing a five-year contract with a season-long extension clause. Although the No. 9 shirt has been relinquished, Zirkze will compete with Hojlund for the main center forward position. There is no need to compete now as the 21-year-old Denmark international is out for six weeks due to injury and Zirkze is the only full-fledged centre-forward.
Zirkze was named to the Netherlands squad this summer and played as a substitute at the European Championships, reaching the semi-finals, so he returned to Carrington a little later and did not play any warm-up games. Zirkze didn't particularly care about the back number of his shirt, having worn the number 11 in his first season at Bologna and only changed to number 9 last season. In Bayern Munich and the Netherlands youth team, he also wore the number 11.
Hojlund may not be the only Manchester United player who has changed the shirt number, and fans have noticed that England international Kobe · Meno, who has just returned to the team, does not have a small number on the right side of his chest in his training shirt during this week's training. The rest of the team-mates have their own jersey numbers, such as Lisandro · Martinez at No. 6, Garnacho at No. 17, Luke · Shaw at No. 23, Facundo · Perlistri at No. 28. As such, it is believed to signal that the 19-year-old Maynor may no longer be the No. 37 he was last season.
Manchester United are very fond of changing the shirt numbers of their Academy players, with Marcus Rashford going from 39, 19 to 10 and Mason · Greenwood from 54, 26 to 11, which has helped boost shirt sales. However, some fans believe that this kind of commercial hype is not conducive to the long-term development of the players, and will make them focus too much on other matters.
Manchester United currently have vacant numbers of 3, 4, 13, 19 and 26, and it is unclear which one Meno will choose. When he debuted in the 2022/23 season, Meno had the number 73, which was reversed to 37 around last season. He wore the number 26 shirt when England played in the European Championships.
Lenny · Yoro, the second player brought in by Manchester United in the summer window, has announced his condition after surgery. The 18-year-old France centre-back is lying in a hospital bed with successful surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his left foot, but will need to recuperate for at least three months.
On his injury, Yoro said: "It's not the beginning I want, but that's football...... The surgery went well. Thank you for your many support messages. Now, the time has come for patience and healing work. We will see you again soon and stay strong."
Joro also used the Bible to motivate himself: "Jesus answered and said to him, You do not know what I am doing now, but you will understand later."
United are once again in a defensive injury crisis, with Ten Hag also questioning the fitness of 36-year-old veteran Evans and "Sweden Iceman" Lindelof, Maguire also missing the final warm-up game, and academy centre-back Will · Fish was stretchered off the pitch in the battle against Liverpool.
Bayern Munich's De Ligt remains the player United want to bring in, with the Bundesliga giants reportedly having reached an agreement to sign Jonatan · from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.2 million, but Bayern are said to only complete the move if De Ligt joins Manchester United, with a £42 million price tag for the 24-year-old Netherlands centre-back.