Erling Haaland Makes Squad Number Decision As He Becomes Manchester City's 11th No.9

Erling Haaland will wear the no.9 on the back of his Manchester City jersey in his first season as a Premier League player.

City formally confirmed Haaland's arrival from Borussia Dortmund last month but the 21-year-old was unveiled in a blank shirt, creating a sense of mystery around his squad number.

That mystery was solved on Saturday when City announced that Haaland had taken the no.9, which was recently vacated by Gabriel Jesus when he joined Arsenal.

Traditionally it is the club that chooses which number a player will wear, but the wording of City's statement made it clear that they had left the decision up to Haaland.

It read: "Erling Haaland has elected to wear the No.9 shirt at Manchester City."

No.9 was always likely to be Haaland's first choice. It is the number that most accurately represents his status as the team's lead frontman.

He also wore no.9 at Dortmund last season.

But some fans thought Haaland may opt for no.15 - the number previously worn by his father Alfie at City between 2000 and 2003.

City's announcement is expected to spark a sharp increase in sales of the club's new home shirt.

Haaland is the 11th player to be allocated no.9 at City since squad numbers were introduced in 1993.

City's previous no.9s were Niall Quinn, Paul Dickov, Paulo Wanchope, Andrew Cole, Emile Mpenza, Valeri Bojinov, Emmanuel Adebayor, Alvaro Negredo, Nolito and Jesus.

A "Haaland 9" jersey pictured on sale in Manchester City's online store

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