Manchester United star Alejandro Garnacho appears to drop new shirt number hint on his birthday cake

Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho has dropped a strong hint he could be named the club's new No. 7.

The number has been worn by some of Manchester United's greatest players in the past, including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, George Best and Eric Cantona. It has been vacant since 'CR7' left the club by mutual consent last November.

Pictures of Garnacho celebrating his 19th birthday surfaced on the internet recently. He was seen holding an Argentina-themed cake with the number 19 (signifying his age) and the number 7 displayed on it.

Garnacho wore the No. 7 during his time with the club's U18 squad. For the senior team, he first donned 75 before shifting to his current squad number, 49. He is gradually becoming a part of Erik ten Hag's first-team plans.

34 of his 36 senior appearances in his Red Devils career came last season, where he managed five goals and as many assists. It remains to be seen if the club think the Madrid-born Argentina international has done enough to upgrade to the No. 7 shirt.

Garnacho was awarded a new contract in April 2023 which extended his stay at the club until the end of the 2027-28 season. His salary was reportedly increased tenfold, and he now pockets £50,000 a week (h/t Daily Star).

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Alejandro Garnacho has said that he will keep improving at Manchester United

Alejandro Garnacho enjoyed a memorable 2022-23 campaign with Manchester United.

All five of his senior goals came in games which the Red Devils won by a maximum two-goal margin. He also scored a memorable stoppage-time winner in the 2-1 league win against Fulham at Craven Cottage in November.

Speaking in an interview with the club's official website in May, Garnacho pledged to improve himself even further in the coming years. He said:

"I’m still a young player, I’ve only just started out and it’s my very first full season at first-team level. I’ve got some good attributes and maybe some not quite as good but really, I have to keep improving in all aspects of my game. I have to make my good points even better and I have to turn my weaknesses into strengths."

Garnacho made his senior bow for Argentina as a substitute in a 2-0 friendly win against Australia in June. He then played half an hour in his team's 2-0 win against Indonesia later that month.