Manchester United have confirmed that Marcus Rashford will wear the No.9 shirt this season following his return to the club. The number has now been submitted to the Premier League.
Provisional number made permanent
Rashford wore the No.9 shirt when he made his first appearance for United since December 2024 in a friendly against AC Milan last weekend. United said the number was provisional at the time, but it has now been confirmed.
It is still not clear whether Rashford will be a United player when the summer transfer window closes, but manager Michael Carrick has been keen to stress that he has been impressed with the forward since his return and that he remains a United player at present.
Shirt number history
United's No.9 shirt became available when Rasmus Hojlund sealed a transfer to Napoli. Rashford wore the No.10 shirt at United before loan stints with Aston Villa and Barcelona, but Matheus Cunha now wears that number.
Hojlund claimed the No.9 shirt when Anthony Martial departed United in the summer of 2024. The Denmark international wore the iconic shirt for just one full season before being axed by Ruben Amorim.
The likes of Andy Cole, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dimitar Berbatov have worn the No.9 shirt for United in the Premier League era, with Sir Bobby Charlton among the legends to have worn it before then.
Carrick's praise for Rashford
Speaking about Rashford last week, Carrick said: "He's a very good player, and I think if you're going to have a career over 10 or 15 years, there's going to be times when things go in a direction and maybe a different direction."
"I think there are ups and downs, and that doesn't judge you as a one-off kind of judgment. It's what happens over time, and now we're in a positive place as a group, and Marcus can offer us so much. He has done, and he can do again, so in that respect, it's quite exciting," Carrick added.
Carrick continued: "He's our player. He arrived back with Kobbie [Mainoo], and Lisandro [Martinez] came the day after, and he's part of the group like anybody else. He came in, he's trained really well."
"I've known him a long time, like I've known some of the others a long time, so I don't treat him any different to anybody else, but it's been good to have him around the group again this week. So I'm really positive with that," he said.
Rashford has two years remaining on his £325,000 per week United contract.
