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| Some of the best names to ever wear the iconic number seven for Manchester United |
Since the inception of the English Premer League in 1992 Manchester United have dominated the greatest league in the world winning more league titles (13) than all the other teams combined.
This has undoubtedly made United the biggest team in the world, and key to their success was Sir Alex Ferguson and a number of special players who've made the Red Devils jersey one of the most coveted in world football.
At Manchester United there is one jersey that has been most coveted more than any other and that is the iconic 'number 7'. Worn by the team's biggest stars including Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo many would agree that United's number seven carries more weight than the rest.
This is a phenomenon we've witnessed in the last few years as a number of players have been seen as the next contender to lead United to victory only to be found out to be pretenders.
Antonio Valencia
Signed in 2009 after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Antonio Valencia originally wore the number 25 jersey for Manchester United and produced some of the best form of his career that he was handed the iconic jersey with Michael Owen's departure in 2012.
What followed was a drastic dip in form in the 2012-2013 season which convinced the Ecuadorian to drop the iconic jersey for his original jersey number.
Memphis Depay
A prodigious talent coming from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, Memphis Depay looked to have the hallmarks of the next big thing for Manchester United as he'd been crowned as the best player in Eredevisie before moving to Old Trafford in 2015.
He was quick, skilful and fans may have thought they'd finally found the next Ronaldo. However, any hope they'd had about his potential was gone as he failed to find form which lead to an early exit for Lyon in the 2016/17 season in January after scoring just five goals for Manchester United.
Angel Di Maria
Afterplaying alongside United legend Cristiano Ronaldo Angel Di Maria had impressed at Real Madrid and brought not only top shelf talent, but also a proven track record at the highest level with Los Blancos.
He also had a torrid spell at Manchester United and while the Red Devils were waiting for him to reignite their hopes with some magic he managed only three goals for United before subsequently making a switch to France to ply his trade for Paris Saint-Germain after just a single season.
Alexis Sanchez
Of all the players to be dealt a bad hand by the hands of the number seven jersey Alexis Sanchez's torrid spell has been by far the worst of the lot.
Since moving to Old Trafford in January, the Chilean has had a tragic fall from grace as he's turned from a potential championship winner to a pedestrian in the colours of Manchester United.
Sanchez has scored just four goals for United, which is a far cry from his Arsenal days where he once scored 30 goals in the 2016/17 season.
It's not all bad though for the Chilean as he's shown some signs of life in recent weeks and may yet find his best form.
An even more damning statement about United's number seven jersey is that collectively all of the Red Devils' number sevens since Ronaldo's departure have scored just 15 goals between them.
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