Valencia has reverted back to the 25 shirt leaving seven free for the forward.
Antonio Valencia has given up the No.7 shirt at Manchester United that the winger held for just a year, leading to speculation Cristiano Ronaldo is coming back from Real Madrid, reports the Metro.
Valencia inherited the famous shirt – which has previously been donned by David Beckham and Eric Cantona at Old Trafford – from Michael Owen, but has decided to revert back to the No.25 that the Ecuadorian wore when first making the transfer from Wigan Athletic in 2009.
Ronaldo of course was also a patron of the seven on the back whilst with the Red Devils and has established a whole image around the number, with the Portuguese maestro often referred to as CR7.
Therefore, with the 28-year-old being linked with a return to United it would make sense that the jersey was made available for the Portugal captain, due to the marketing issues that would arise if this were not done.
Ronaldo became a world record transfer when the forward joined Real Madrid for £80m in 2009, but has since gone onto win just the Copa Del Rey and La Liga in four years and is thought to be unsettled in the Spanish capital.
At United the attacker was adored by the faithful at the Theatre of Dreams and became a club legend, whereas at the Santiago Bernabeu Ronaldo has not enjoyed the same amount of love.
As a sensitive and egotistical footballer this lack of praise from the stands in Madrid is concerning and Valencia’s change of heart over the No.7 shirt could be United clearing the path for the winger to come back to Manchester.
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