Manchester United have confirmed striker Rasmus Hojlund has been awarded the No.9 shirt ahead of the 2024/25 season.
The Dane joined United from Italian outfit Atalanta in August last year and was assigned the No.11 shirt. He was immediately installed as the club’s first-choice striker and ended his first season in England with 16 goals to his name.
But following the departure of Anthony Martial last month, the Reds have now awarded the 21-year-old the famous No.9 shirt. He follows in the footsteps of a plethora of big-name players to have donned that number at Old Trafford, such as Sir Bobby Charlton, Andy Cole and Dimitar Berbatov.
Hojlund, who reported back to Carrington for pre-season training earlier this week, donned the No.9 shirt for Denmark at the European Championship during the summer. He also wore the same number for SK Sturm Graz.
As a result of Hojlund making the switch to the No.9 shirt, it is likely new signing Joshua Zirkzee will be handed the No.11 shirt. The Netherlands international wore that number in his first season at Bologna in 2022/23 before being handed the No.9 shirt last season.
Zirkzee recently said that he expected Hojlund to be assigned the No.9 shirt, admitting: “That depends a bit on Rasmus Hojlund. He’s already there and he’s also a striker.
“No.9 is free, but yes… he has 11, so I can imagine that he wants No.9 now. In that case, I’ll take 11. At Bologna I also had 11, so that doesn’t really matter to me.”
Zirkzee, 23, will follow in the footsteps of some brilliant former United players if he is handed the No.11 shirt, most famously Ryan Giggs.
