Lukaku to wear No. 9 shirt at Man United with Ibrahimovic’s permission

Romelu Lukaku has revealed he asked Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s permission before requesting to wear Manchester United’s No. 9 shirt next season.

Lukaku, 24, sealed his move to Old Trafford on Monday after United reached a £75 million agreement with Everton last week.

He wore No. 10 at Goodison Park, where he scored 71 goals in 133 games after signing permanently from Chelsea in 2014. The Belgium international will take No. 9 at United — but only after Ibrahimovic, who will undergo his rehabilitation from a knee injury at Carrington despite not having a contract, said he could.

Lukaku said: “I always asked my mother what number, and I used to play with the 10 because my mother’s birthday is on Oct. 10, so it’s the 10th month of the year.

“Strikers play with No. 9. It’s a nice number, and I asked the permission of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I want to thank him, as well, for allowing me to wear that number.”“That’s why I played with No. 10. I asked for the number nine because I’m a striker.

Lukaku will follow Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial, Radamel Falcao, Dimitar Berbatov, Louis Saha, Andy Cole and Brian McClair in wearing United’s No. 9 shirt in the Premier League.

Fellow new signing Victor Lindelof is expected to take No. 2.

After Memphis Depay’s departure to Lyon in January and Wayne Rooney’s move to Everton, the No. 7 and No. 10 shirts are both vacant.