United, while warmly welcoming Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, gave Cristiano his iconic No. 7 shirt back.
Over the past few decades, Cristiano Ronaldo, along with Best, Robson, Cantona and Beckham, has made the No. 7 shirt immortal and terrified countless opponents.
There is no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of Manchester United's legendary No. 7 stars.
Ronaldo
However, after the departure of the Portuguese, Manchester United No. 7 almost no longer made a big splash, and the players who inherited the No. 7 shirt seemed to be "cursed", not only failing to reproduce the past legend of No. 7, but also suffering from various injuries and discomfort.
Let's take stock of all the players who have worn the No. 7 shirt for United since Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" >1: Michael Owen</h1>
Ferguson lost Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in the summer of 2009, so he desperately needed to find a new striker to increase his attacking power in the front.
Ferguson turned to former Liverpool star Michael Owen, who opted for a free transfer to Manchester United after his contract with Newcastle ended.
After Irving joined Manchester United, fans were eager for him to take over the No. 7 shirt left by Cristiano Ronaldo and destroy the city for Manchester United.
Sadly, Irving was injured at the time, scoring 17 goals in 52 appearances for the club, including just 18 starts.
Despite scoring just 17 goals for United, Irving left some memorable moments for fans, notably his last win in the Manchester derby.
In his days at Manchester United No. 7, Irving won a Premier League title as he wished. After Irving won the title, the words of the "wind chaser" made fans around the world crazy for him, when he said very sincerely: "If you can't beat them, then join them." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" >2: Antonio Valencia</h1>
Antonio Valencia and Irving came to Old Trafford the same summer when Ferguson actually wanted to give Valencia the No. 7 shirt. However, Valencia chose number 25 on its own.
The former Wigan winger is not the most charismatic star or the most lethal player in front of goal. However, Valencia's professionalism is very good, which makes him a fan favorite and earns Ferguson's trust in every game.
After an outstanding season, Valencia was named United Player of the Year and put on the legendary number 7 shirt. However, he only wore the No. 7 shirt for a year before choosing to put it back on to No. 25. Valencia insist that the number 25 shirt brings him good luck and feels more comfortable himself. During his time in the number 7 shirt, the Ecuadorian suffered a long period of injury, scoring just one goal for United.
In this way, Valencia wore the number 25 until the summer of 2019. During his decade at Manchester United, Valencia made a total of 339 appearances for the Red Devils, contributing 25 goals and 62 assists.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" >3: Di Maria</h1>
In the years after Ferguson retired, United signed Di Maria, a failed deal.
The Argentine is upset and uninterested at United, and behind it is all money talking.
Di Maria was indeed radiant and exciting in the first few weeks, but his form soon plummeted. Even the angel himself did not know what was happening, causing the state to fall off a cliff.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" >4: Memphis-Depay</h1>
After Di Maria left, the Dutch inherited the Number 7 shirt and hope Depay will wear it for years to come.
United up and down considered it an excellent signing, whether it was skill, speed, creativity or a keen sense of scoring, Depay had it, and it seemed that success at Manchester United would come naturally.
But the opposite happened, due to the overall instability of the Manchester United team, Depay did not have many opportunities to show his talents on the pitch, and the former talented player in Eindhoven was difficult to make a big impact.
Depay's talent is there for all to see, and fans have witnessed his highlight moments. But all of this only happened occasionally, and in most of the games, Depay did not appear in the game.
After United's disappointment, Depay chose to leave and spent his second spring in Ligue 1 at Lyon. Today, Depay is playing for Barcelona and is the main player of the Cosmos team. I have to say that Maxima still needs Bole to have a long future.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" >5: Sanchez</h1>
Sanchez in the Manchester United era can be described as a daily gold. He costs the club around £28,000 per touch, £19.8 million per Premier League goal and £40 million in total salary.
Manchester City loaned Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez, the form was extremely hot, Manchester United was very fond of him at that time. In order to get Sanchez, Manchester United stormed the same city side Manchester City, and finally signed the Chilean from Arsenal as desired.
However, United paid a high price, not only using Mkhitaryan as an exchange player, but also paying a huge fee.
However, Manchester United once again had bad luck and Sanchez, who came to Manchester United, did not play out the heroic state he had at Arsenal. Having scored just five goals in 45 games, it shows how bad his performance at Manchester United is.
More seriously, he couldn't integrate into Manchester United and was difficult to be a member of the team, especially on the pitch, often playing with his teammates.
In the 2019/20 season, Manchester United loaned him to Inter Milan. After the loan expired, the Red Devils chose to pay liquidated damages to terminate their contract with him.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" >6: Cavani</h1>
After Edmund Edmund Edu arrived at Old Trafford as a free agent in October 2020, the "curse" of United's No. 7 shirt was finally broken.
Despite scoring 300 club goals in the last 10 years, there was a lot of skepticism about the veteran Uruguayan when the deal for Cavani was announced. He has not played for six months due to the pandemic and the status of the race is a problem. At the same time, due to old age, physical problems have made fans question a lot.
But Cavani eventually silenced his critics, and less than a year after joining Manchester United, Edvanni has scored 17 goals and become the new hero of Old Trafford. Not only did he perform well on the court, but he also helped young greenwood grow up well by bringing the old to the new.
Now, Ronaldo has returned, and Cavani has taken the initiative to give up the No. 7 jersey and wear the No. 21 himself.