Vinícius Júnior will wear Real Madrid’s iconic No. 7 shirt — previously worn by Cristiano Ronaldo — next season after the departure of Eden Hazard, the club confirmed Monday.
Vinicius, 22, is now listed as Madrid’s No. 7 in the first-team squad section of the club’s website.
In addition, fellow Brazil international Rodrygo Goes will now wear the No. 11, after Marco Asensio left the club.
Vinicius wore the No. 20 shirt last season, while Rodrygo wore the No. 21.
Both players are now key members of the first team, scoring a combined 19 LaLiga and 12 Champions League goals last campaign.
Hazard wore Madrid’s No. 7 from his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in July 2019 until his departure this month.
The Belgian agreed to rescind his contract a year early, after a disappointing four years in Spain.
Ronaldo wore the No. 7 for eight seasons between 2009 and 2018, becoming Madrid’s all-time record scorer with 450 goals, and winning four Champions League trophies.
Previous high-profile Madrid No. 7s have included Raul Gonzalez, who currently coaches the club’s reserve team, Emilio Butragueño, who is Madrid’s director of institutional relations, Amancio Amaro, who was Madrid’s honorary president until his death in February, and Juan “Juanito” Gomez.
Madrid’s No. 9 shirt is also currently vacant, after Karim Benzema joined Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.
Madrid introduced their first signing of the summer, left-back Fran García, in an event at their training ground Monday.
“It’s a dream that I’ve been chasing,” said Garcia, a Madrid academy product who returns after spending three years at Rayo Vallecano.
“My dream was to come back, and I’m happy to have the opportunity. … The [January transfer] market was busy and there was interest [from Bayer Leverkusen], but in the end, Madrid had an option to bring me back, and I’m happy with how it turned out.”
Source: espn.com.au
