The
Belgian has chosen not to wear Wayne Rooney's No.10 jersey, instead
opting for the number he carries at international level.
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku has revealed he will wear the Manchester United No.9
shirt vacated after receiving "permission" from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Lukaku has finalised £75 million move from Everton after undergoing
a medical on Saturday, and will meet up with his new team-mates in Los
Angeles as they begin their pre-season preparations.
And he has revealed that he has already chosen to don the No.9
jersey, succeeding the departing Ibrahimovic in the iconic jersey.
"I always asked my mother what number, and I used to play with
the 10 because my mother's birthday is on Oct. 10, so it's the 10th
month of the year," he told ESPN.
"That's why I played with No. 10. I asked for the number nine because I'm a striker.
"Strikers play with No.9. It's a nice number, and I asked the
permission of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I want to thank him, as well, for
allowing me to wear that number."
The 24-year-old becomes the eighth United player to be given the
number nine since the introduction of squad numbering in 1993. Brian
McClair, Andy Cole, Louis Saha, Dimitar Berbatov, Radamel Falcao and
Anthony Martial had all worn the shirt before Ibrahimovic arrived at the
club last summer, with Martial being reallocated the number 11.
There was a belief that Lukaku may make a straight swap with Wayne
Rooney, who has taken the Belgian’s Everton number 10 shirt after
returning to Goodison Park. But the famous United number 10 remains
vacant for now with Lukaku favouring the number he wears for his
national team instead.
Lukaku could make his United debut on Saturday night when Jose
Mourinho’s side take on LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center in their first
pre-season fixture of the summer.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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