Cristiano Ronaldo set to get special Man Utd number; new teammate poised to switch

Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to become Manchester United’s new No. 7 after completing his return to Old Trafford from Juventus.
The 36-year-old, who has established his ‘CR7’ brand over the past decade, requires United to be granted special dispensation from the Premier League in order to take Edinson Cavani’s number for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign.
Cavani started the season as United’s No. 7 and Premier League rules state that the Uruguayan striker must keep that number until the end of the campaign.
Per ESPN’s Dale Johnson, the Premier League board have never before granted special dispensation for this rule to be changed.
This led to speculation over which number Ronaldo would play with this season. No. 9 (Anthony Martial), No. 10 (Marcus Rashford) and No. 11 (Mason Greenwood) are all occupied.
There were suggestions that Cavani would leave Old Trafford, freeing up the No. 7 shirt in the process, but the South American is poised to stay with the Red Devils until next summer.