The number nine shirt has attracted controversy at Man United ahead of the new season. The shirt, originally belonging to Man United sensation Anthony Martial, was awarded to new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Martial took the number 11 shirt.
However, the decision to award Zlatan the number nine shirt did not seem to go well with the Frenchman, if his latest activity on social media was anything to go by. The former Monaco man changed his profile picture on Facebook to a promotional image for his website, which contains the ‘AM9’ insignia.
He also changed the cover photo to a picture taken of him showing his previous shirt number nine during the FA Cup semi-final clash at Wembley. On Twitter, he changed his handle to ‘@AnthonyMartialAM9.’
His recent social media activity has sparked rumours of a disagreement between him, Zlatan and the Manchester United board. Earlier this week, it was announced that the 20-year-old had the third-most shirt sales in 2015/16 just behind legendary players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He was therefore hoping to retain his brand and promote his image further with the trademark number nine shirt.
ICYMI - @Ibra_official is our new no.9! See all the provisional squad numbers: https://t.co/QlPc1W1Rvo pic.twitter.com/QpeiI0l0RW
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2016
But when the new shirt numbers for Man United players were announced earlier last week, the club revealed that they are just provisional for the China tour. There are reports that the English giants could reconsider their decision ahead of the new season, but this could also cause further controversy especially at a time when Zlatan had revealed that he personally chose to number nine shirt at his new club.
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