Man United hand Ibrahimovic iconic number 9 shirt as No 6 is left free for Pogba

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has taken the No 9 shirt at Manchester United, with previous occupant Anthony Martial moving to No 11.

The Swedish striker has varied between numbers eight, nine and 10 throughout his career but with all three taken upon his arrival at Old Trafford, he was expected to have to settle for different number.

But Martial has moved to 11 while previous occupant Adnan Januzaj now has 15. Juan Mata keeps No 8 and Wayne Rooney remains on No 10.

Ibrahimovic posted an image of No 9 on Instagram, writing: ‘I chose the number 9.’

United’s new signing Ibrahimovic posted this image on Instagram with the caption: ‘I chose the number 9’

United’s other summer signings, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, have taken No 3 and No 22 respectively.

One notable absence is No 6, which is perhaps being kept free for Paul Pogba, who wore the same number in his early days at Juventus.

United fans will not be able to see Ibrahimovic donning the No 9 shirt for the club’s tour of China, with boss Jose Mourinho deciding to give the striker an extended break after Euro 2016.

‘My decision with Zlatan is a consequence of many hours of study, analysis and discussion with my staff. Although he was out of the Euros one match before the English guys, everything is different,’ Mourinho said.

‘The body is different, the mind is different, the personality; the time he needs to adapt and have holidays. Even things you don’t have to know, which is to prepare in a different way.

‘At the training level we try to do suits by measure, perfect for the person. The way I’m building the team, it is more important for me the players from other positions than the one that I think is going to play as the striker. I need to change the profile of this team in relation to other dynamics, and the striker will be the easy one to finish the puzzle.’

United will play Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Galatasaray in China. The club also have Wayne Rooney’s testimonial against Everton on August 3, with the Community Shield against Leicester four days later.