Vinicius Junior will wear the No 7 shirt for Real Madrid next season.

The 22-year-old, who joined the club from Flamengo in 2018, has worn the No 20 shirt since the start of the 2020-21 season,

But the winger will now take the shirt recently vacated by Eden Hazard, who left the club at the end of last season after a mutual agreement.

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Real’s No 7 shirt was made famous by the likes of Emilio Butragueno, Raul, and Cristiano Ronaldo, whom Vinicius Jr — in an interview with madridistaReal last year — named as one of his idols. When Ronaldo left the club in 2018, the shirt was worn by Mariano Diaz, before Hazard took it in 2019 after he joined the club from Chelsea.

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Vinicius Jr was a standout player for the club last season, scoring 23 goals and providing 21 assists in 55 appearances.

Real updated the squad numbers on their official website, with Rodrygo, who previously wore the No 21 shirt, now lining up in Marco Asensio’s recently vacated No 11 jersey.

Rodrygo, 22, joined the club from Santos in 2020, and made 57 appearances last season, scoring 19 goals and providing 11 assists.

Before Asensio, Gareth Bale donned the number 11 for seven years before he returned to former club Tottenham Hotspur on loan in the summer of 2020.

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(Photo: Getty Images)