Arsenal confirm Henrikh Mkhitaryan will take No.7 shirt vacated by Alexis Sanchez's Manchester United switch

James Benge23 January 2018

Arsenal have confirmed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will wear the No.7 shirt vacated by Alexis Sanchez.

The Armenian playmaker completed his swap move with Sanchez from Manchester United on Monday and will don the famous jersey previously worn by Robert Pires, David Rocastle and Liam Brady.

However Mkhitaryan will not be eligible to wear the No.7 in the Europa League as Uefa regulations state two players cannot use the same number during a competition. Arsenal have not yet confirmed which number the 29-year-old will wear.

Mkhitaryan has never worn the No.7 at club level – he was handed the 22 shirt at Manchester United that he had previously worn at Shakhtar Donetsk, Metalurh Dontesk and FC Pyunik. That number is taken by Jeff Reine-Adelaide at the Emirates.

At Borussia Dortmund Mkhitaryan was the No.10 – currently worn by Jack Wilshere at Arsenal and coveted by Mesut Ozil.

His new manager Arsene Wenger was glowing in his assessment of his new signing, telling a press conference this morning: I have no doubt about his attitude, his commitment, his desire to do well.

“He suffered a little bit maybe from the competition he had there and overall that is his challenge.

“My challenge is to get him to express his talent completely, that we know is absolutely right because he has done extremely well, so he has a new challenge that we want to help him be successful in.”

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