Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed appreciation to Edinson Cavani for giving up the iconic no.7 shirt following his return to Manchester United.

The 36-year-old staged a surprise return to Old Trafford last month after exiting Juventus three years after arriving the Italian giants from Real Madrid.

During his first stint at United, Ronaldo wore the no.7 shirt, and has now described as “incredible gesture” for handing over the shirt.

“I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to have the number seven shirt again, so I would like to say a huge thank you to Edi for this incredible gesture,” Ronaldo said on United’s Twitter account.

Ronaldo made 292 appearances and scored 118 goals during his first spell, helping the club win nine trophies including three Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.

The news of Ronaldo’s shirt number occurred on the same day he was released from the Portugal squad after picking up a one-game suspension following their 2-1 victory over Ireland on Wednesday.

Ronaldo has become so synonymous with the No.7 that it is hard to picture anyone else wearing it so it’s very easy to forget that when he initially joined Manchester United, he preferred the No.28, the number he wore for Sporting Lisbon. It was Sir Alex Ferguson who was the driving force behind changing his jersey number to the iconic United No.7, previously worn by the likes of David Beckham, George Best and Eric Cantona.

The Portuguese superstar revealed this at an event back in 2017 where he said that Ferguson told him, “Look, I want you to wear the No.7 shirt.”