Memphis Depay's squad number revealed

Manchester United winger Memphis Depay has been handed the inauspicious No.26 shirt by manager Louis van Gaal.

Depay trained with his United teammates for the first time on Monday and pictures show the Dutchman's shorts feature the number, reports the Manchester Evening News.

United players did not used to wear their squad numbers in training. Juan Sebastian Veron's first session featured the No.7, which inevitably led to rumours he was replacing David Beckham.

Depay, though, has inherited the vacant number from the lightweight Shinji Kagawa, who returned to Borussia Dortmund last year.

Encyclopedic United fans will note Depay's number is not the luckiest, given how United's last three No.26s fared.

Before Kagawa wore it for two underwhelming seasons, it belonged to the disastrous Gabriel Obertan.

"He was greased lightning," Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his autobiography.

"But in the final third his feet were sometimes all over the place. His task was to co-ordinate his feet with his brain and deliver the hurt in the final third."

Obertan, though, was an improvement on the bumbling Angolan striker Manucho, who made just three substitute appearances.

Although Depay is expected to wear the No.26 on United's pre-season tour, he could receive a new squad number for the start of the season.

Luke Shaw wore the No.28 in the United States last year before eventually receiving the No.3 shirt.