Zlatan Ibrahimovic

ZLATAN IS UNITED'S 7TH PREMIER LEAGUE NO.9

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the seventh man to wear Manchester United's no.9 shirt in the Premier League since squad numbers were introduced in 1993/94.

The Swedish signing has become the third occupant of the jersey in the past three seasons after Radamel Falcao and Anthony Martial, who has switched to no.11 - the figure he wore for France at Euro 2016 - following his remarkable debut season in England.

Brian McClair donned the no.9 shirt in 1993/94 even if Eric Cantona was then the regular partner of Mark Hughes in attack, with the Scot ultimately dropping into a deeper midfield role. Andy Cole moved to no.9 in 1996/1997 from the no.17 he was given when completing a record move from Newcastle United in January 1995; McClair subsequently moved to no.13.

A classic no.9 in terms of playing style, Cole provided plenty of goals before a transfer to Blackburn Rovers left the shirt number vacant for two seasons (2001/02 and 2002/03). Louis Saha arrived from Fulham in January 2004 to take over the mantle for another five campaigns before Dimitar Berbatov accepted the no.9 spot in 2008.

The number was left blank for a couple of seasons after the Bulgarian departed for Fulham, until Falcao wore it during his year-long loan move from Monaco. The first sight of Martial in the jersey came when he entered the fray as a substitute against Liverpool last September and scored to clinch a 3-1 win.

The only other player to wear no.9 for United in a Premier League match was Lee Sharpe, in the away defeat to Aston Villa in November 1992, before squad numbers were introduced.

Mourinho didn’t include Ibrahimovic in his 25-man pre-season squad that toured China, claiming that the Swede would be better suited to his own specialised training programme.

Ibrahimovic, now back from his holiday, has begun preparing in earnest for the upcoming season.

I UNITED it @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/2rgvuvoT0m

— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) August 24, 2017