Antonio Valencia handed back Manchester United's iconic No. 7 shirt after just one season, saying he felt another player deserved it more. The former United captain spent a decade at Old Trafford and wore his usual No. 25 for nine of those years.
After wearing his signature number for three seasons, the ex-Ecuador international became the latest recipient of the famous No. 7 shirt following Michael Owen's departure in the summer of 2012. The number is the most iconic of its kind at United, with the likes of George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo having worn it.
Valencia joined legendary list in 2012/13
Valencia joined that legendary list of players in the 2012/13 campaign, which remains the last season United won the Premier League title. Despite the title success he enjoyed while wearing it, he ended up reverting to his previous number and admitted he wanted to leave the No. 7 to someone more deserving.
"Firstly, I would like to thank Sir Alex Ferguson for trusting me with the number seven shirt, because that shirt number has a lot of meaning at Manchester United," Valencia told Seven, powered by Ladbrokes. "You know, the likes of Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo have all worn it. It was just unfortunate for me because it came at a time when I had a really difficult injury, so I never really had a chance to do something special in that shirt."
Ferguson's door was always open
"In the end, I made the decision to give it back to the club, so they could pass the number on to someone else who could carry it better. Once I made that decision, because I knew Sir Alex was a great person to talk to – his door was always open for me – I talked to him directly about it, about my reason for giving the number back, and that I felt another player deserved it."
"He understood me totally, and just said he wanted me to be happy – those were his only words. I went back to number 25, which had served me well, but I'll always be grateful to the club for trusting me with the number seven."
Only six players followed Valencia
Only six players have worn the No. 7 after Valencia, including the likes of Angel Di Maria, Memphis Depay, Alexis Sanchez and Edinson Cavani. Ronaldo took the number back from the Uruguayan upon his return in 2021, but it became vacant after his controversial exit in November 2022.
It remained unclaimed until July 2023, when Mason Mount took the number after joining the club from Chelsea in a £60million deal.
