Cristiano Ronaldo shadow looms over Alexis Sanchez and other Manchester United stars to further prove no.7

Manchester United have finally managed to ship out Alexis Sanchez.

The Chile forward, who has failed to impress since swapping Arsenal for Old Trafford in January 2018, has left the Premier League side to join Internazionale of Milan on loan for the remainder of the season.

He departs United having scored only five goals in 45 matches in all competitions, and without making a single appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side this season.

And Sanchez’s truly disastrous spell as a Red Devil further backs up the feeling that Man United’s no.7 shirt is cursed.

A decade ago Cristiano Ronaldo broke the hearts of United fans everywhere by leaving for Real Madrid – and no player has come close to matching his talents in wearing the famous no.7.

Sanchez is a fifth player to wear the number since Ronaldo’s exit, but he is a shallow imitation of the Portuguese superstar – just as United are now a shallow imitation of the side they were when Ronaldo was at Old Trafford.

The combined record of Man United’s no.7s since Ronaldo’s exit makes for depressing reading: they’ve scored just 14 league goals between them in the decade since he left.

In the same period, Ronaldo has netted 332 league goals for Real Madrid and Juventus (in just 324 games) and has a total of 478 goals in all competitions.

While it may be a tad extreme to retire the shirt, players would perhaps be wise to avoid picking the no.7 at Old Trafford once Sanchez has walked out the exit door.

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