According to the British media published, Manchester United will offer Dortmund for Sancho as early as this week, and his transfer fee may be under 80 million pounds. But the club is also facing a difficult problem, that is, if the English winger to join, the club needs to temporarily find a new number for him, rather than the original number 7 of the previous year.
Had Sancho made his desired move to Manchester United the previous year, he would have surely been given the legendary No. 7 shirt. Unfortunately, the sale was eventually canceled due to Dortmund's asking price of £108 million. United then signed veteran Cavani on a free transfer, who picked the number 7.
After getting the Manchester United No. 7 jersey, Cavani said: this is a marvelous response and an exciting duty, which I accept with the best will in the world. Like I said, I will work very hard to perform at my best so that I when I break away, the jersey that will be worn by so many legends, will also leave my name. It's a great number and I've worn it with the national team, but the jersey number is just an off-field thing, once you're out on the field, it doesn't matter what number you have.
But when you get the chance to wear the No. 7 shirt of Manchester United, it's a great responsibility. I love the challenge and hopefully I can prove myself worthy of the number 7 and make it revered like so many great players before me who have worn the shirt.
Now that Cavani has renewed his contract for another year, Solskjaer and United are unlikely to plunder his No. 7 shirt and hand it over to Sancho. Not only that, but the other important numbers that Sancho could have picked in former times at United now have owners, No. 9 Martial, No. 10 Rashford, and No. 11 Mason Greenwood.
As a result, even if United get Sancho, they will have to find a new number for him. In his Dortmund days, Sancho wore #8 and #18 in the youth team. If Mata returns next, Sancho might just pick No. 8, or maybe Bruno Fernandes will wear No. 8 and Sancho will wear No. 18.
In United's team history, another English superstar, Wayne Rooney, also wore the No. 8 jersey when he first joined the team before switching to No. 10. By the time Cavani is out of United, Sancho could take over and get the number 7.
If neither number 8 nor 18 change ownership this summer, Sancho may return to the number he wore during his City days. He wore Nos. 15, 16 and 17 in the youth team, and may have Nos. 15 and 16 available in the current United first-team squad. 15's owner, Andreas Pereira, may be saying goodbye to United this summer.
And, Sancho's first number out of the gate for the 2015/16 season - number 16 - is currently outright unowned at United. Add to that, the fact that 1+6 happens to also equal 7, and the number should be a great temporary pick for Sancho.
