Alex Ferguson wanted another Manchester United star to wear David Beckham’s No.7 shirt

In an interesting tidbit for shirt number obsessives, David Beckham would have missed out on wearing his iconic No.7 shirt at Manchester United had Alex Ferguson made the final decision.

The number was up for grabs after Eric Cantona left the club in 1997 and, having previously worn the 28, 15 and 24 shirts, Beckham wanted to step up into the realm of single figures. There was another major contender for the No.7 shirt, however, in Ferguson’s eyes at least.

According to Roy Keane’s autobiography, The Second Half, Ferguson wanted him to have the iconic jersey. He wasn’t interested, though, so it went to Beckham.

‘Iconic number’

“The captaincy is important but squad numbers can have an importance, too,” Keane wrote. “At United, seven was the iconic number.

“When Eric Cantona left there was debate about who was going to be the next captain. I was quite relaxed about it. But there was his number, too: seven.

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“Bryan Robson had had it before Cantona and, of course, it went back to Georgie Best.

“The manager pulled me into his office and said that he wanted me to wear the seven.

“I said, ‘No, I’m not bothered’. And he said, ‘I know Becks will f**kin’ want it and I don’t want him to have it’.

“The little power battles. I’d had 16 since I’d signed for the club. I was comfortable with 16. I think it might have kept me on my toes, being outside the one to 11. I didn’t think I was a No.7. I said, ‘Give it to Becks’.

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“Becks got it, and it suited him – and Cantona. Ronaldo had it after Becks.”

So there we have it. David Beckham could have ended up without the No.7 shirt and football would have been irrevocably changed forever, possibly.