Garnacho is back in Manchester with his dogs.

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Alejandro Garnacho is not the first Manchester United player involved in squad number mystery

Alejandro Garnacho is not the first Argentine who was rumored to inherit the number seven position at Manchester United but failed to do so.

There are no pre-printed ‘Garnacho’ t-shirts in the Old Trafford Megastore. When searching for Garnacho on the online store, consumers can only purchase replicas from the previous season.

Those who purchase shirts from the Megastore are routinely informed that the squad numbers are not definitive and are subject to change. On an excursion there last week to purchase a child’s new uniform, a youngster was overheard requesting Garnacho, but his father advised him against it. He received ‘Mount 7’ instead.

 

The most prominent names on exhibit were Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and Christian Eriksen. Mount was by far the most requested publication in the printing queue.

Had Garnacho received number seven, the line could have been lengthier. The United app heavily hinted at it last month with a push notification that read, “If you’re a true fan of Alejandro, you’ll score at least seven out of 10.” Garnacho was one of the most popular players among fans and was under consideration to occupy the number seven position. It was accompanied by an emoticon winking.

Roberto Garnacho, Alejandro Garnacho’s sibling, posted a photoshopped image of Alejandro’s name above the ‘7’ and liked a tweet from an aggregator account that relayed the Manchester Evening News’s story.

So it was surprising when United introduced Mount as the eleventh permanent holder of the number. For a large number of online supporters, it was an absolute letdown.

Even pedants will not approve. Mount is a central midfielder, a No. 8, as he explained to MUTV. The number seven is synonymous with wingers. This already belongs to Bruno Fernandes, who begins as United’s number 10, which Marcus Rashford has held for the previous five seasons.

United have not yet allocated Garnacho a new number nearly two weeks after Mount’s introduction, and Garnacho’s first probable preseason appearance is Saturday against Arsenal in New York.

That would be excellent publicity for United and Adidas if they were to divulge Garnacho’s new number after the fact. He has returned to training, but unlike nearly every other comrade, Garnacho’s training top lacks a number.

The cloak and sword are mysterious. United are not dealing with enigma codes, as Garnacho’s shorts from Saturday’s training session at Carrington displayed his customary squad number 49. If United are waiting for Mason Greenwood to be loaned out so that Garnacho can wear number 11, then the delay may be excessive.

The fascination with squad numbers predates social media by many years. Prior to 2012, the numbers on United players’ training uniforms were unrelated to their squad numbers.

In the summer of 2001, Juan Sebastian Veron caused a stir when he arrived at Bridgewater Hospital for his physical wearing a training top with the number ‘7’ inscribed on it. United experts knew the number was meaningless, but it still made headlines.

David Beckham, United’s number seven at the time, was in protracted contract negotiations. Veron was signed for a British record of £28.1 million and was paid more than Beckham.

The image of Veron prompted United press to clarify that Beckham’s number would not be changing amid rumors regarding his future. Veron was holding a newly-printed ‘Veron 4’ uniform when he was introduced to the media at Old Trafford.

This will have caused United kit man Albert Morgan some embarrassment, as he was quoted as saying that Veron would wear the number 23 he donned at Lazio.

For the majority of Veron’s season, Ferguson forbade the distribution of training photographs beyond United’s internal media due to the Veron number controversy. Veron was featured in the final edition, with a ‘7’ visible on his shirt.

Veron wore the number during his final training sessions at Carrington in 2003, the summer Beckham departed for Real Madrid.