A surprise name will wear Real Madrid’s number 7 shirt this season

Didn't see this one coming

Let's be honest, when Cristiano Ronaldo finally left Real Madrid in the summer, most of us assumed he'd be replaced by one of two Paris Saint-Germain players (maybe even both). Sure enough, reports claimed that Real were eyeing moves for Kylian Mbappe and Neymar - only for the European champions to swiftly deny their interest via a couple of official statements. Although Julen Lopetegui has added Thibaut Courtois to his squad in the time since, he had yet to sign any attacking players... until Wednesday night. After stories linking them with a surprise move for former Liverpool striker Iago Aspas, it was confirmed that Real had agreed a deal to re-sign Mariano Diaz from Lyon. The Dominican forward only left Madrid 14 months ago, but the Spanish giants activated a buy-back option and will reportedly shell out €22m for the 25-year-old. Naturally, given that he's the first new(?) forward to arrive at the club since Ronaldo's exit, Mariano is going to be carrying a considerable weight of expectation on his shoulders in the months ahead . The fact he'll be wearing the number seven shirt might not exactly help him either, given its association with the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Despite earlier claims that the club had assigned the seven shirt to Mariano, it's claimed by Goal that the player requested the number after signing his five-year deal. Since Ronaldo left the club, several other members of the Real squad are said to have turned down the chance to wear seven this season - perhaps daunted at taking on the number after the Portuguese star's record-shattering run at the Bernabeu. Mariano is due to be unveiled by Real on Friday, and could feature in the club's La Liga game with Leganes on Saturday.