Manchester United star expected to leave as Hojlund takes his shirt number

Manchester United unveiled their new striker in front of a packed Old Trafford before their friendly against RC Lens over the weekend.

Rasmus Hojlund entered the pitch and received a rapturous welcome from over 70,000 fans. During the presentation, he embraced club mascot Fred the Red and held up United’s shirt, albeit without any squad number on the back.

The Denmark international, who donned 17 for his former side Atalanta, is yet to be officially handed any shirt number at his new club, as United continue to work on wrapping up multiple transfers.

Rasmus Hojlund’s Manchester United shirt number revealed

The 20-year-old cost United north of £60m and is undoubtedly going to be Erik ten Hag’s first choice number nine.

However, with Anthony Martial still at Carrington, the traditional number for a striker remains out of reach for Hojlund, for now. He rocked Sturm Graz’s number 9 shirt before moving to Atalanta last summer.

As per Fabrizio Romano, the Dane will wear the No. 17 shirt at United. The decision suggests Fred’s days in Manchester are limited, as the Brazilian midfielder has been flaunting the number ever since joining the English side from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018.

The Italian transfer expert has also claimed that United expect the deal for the 30-year-old’s exit to advance next week, adding “sources guarantee he will 100%” depart Old Trafford.

Fred wasn’t part of Ten Hag’s pre-season tour to the U.S. and also didn’t feature in any of the two friendlies United played over the weekend.

The Premier League giants are also in active negotiations with Real Sociedad to cut ties with Donny van de Beek. Interestingly, the Dutchman started against Athletic Club in his side’s 1-1 draw on Sunday.