Brazil international Matheus Cunha has been confirmed as Manchester United’s new No. 10, several weeks after he was announced as the club’s first signing of the summer transfer window.
Cunha wore No. 10 during a mightily successful 2024–25 season at Wolverhampton Wanderers, which saw him garner the attention of the Red Devils. While the maverick forward may well have had alternative proposals to consider, Cunha said he has always “dreamed of wearing the red shirt.”
The 26-year-old has gotten hold of a number synonymous with the very best footballing exports out of Brazil, including Pelé, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Neymar. Moreover, his childhood love for Manchester Unitted was surely inspired by some of the incumbents of this iconic shirt.
With shirt numbers introduced to professional English football in 1928, Harry Rowley may well have been the very first to don No. 10 in league play. Rowley, who also played for Manchester City, scored 55 times for United during his seven years with the Red Devils.
Sir Walter Winterbottom wore No. 10 during the 1936–37 season, but his time as a player was brief. His football legacy was instead defined by a 16-year reign as the first true England manager between 1946 and 1962. He remains the longest-serving Three Lions boss in history.
While Winterbottom was leading his country, United’s No. 10 passed through the hands of the legendary Dennis Viollet and Duncan Edwards, who also often wore No. 6 in the days when jerseys could change on a game-to-game basis and usually reflected positions on the pitch.
The pair of Busby Babes played key roles in United’s back-to-back league title successes in the mid-1950s, with Viollet topping the European Cup scoring charts in 1956–57. Viollet was a survivor of the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, with Edwards among those to tragically lose their lives.
Sir Bobby Charlton was another survivor, and he was also United’s No. 10 in a similar era to Viollet. Charlton, who’d later inspire England to their one and only World Cup triumph in 1966, is recognised by many as the club’s greatest-ever player, but is typically more associated with No. 9 than any other. He appeared 758 times for United, scoring 249 goals, club records until 2008 and 2017 respectively.
The shirt was Denis Law’s when Charlton claimed the Ballon d’Or in 1966—Law himself wore it when he also won that gong two years earlier in 1964. The Scottish forward enjoyed a fruitful 11-year spell with United after an ill-fated venture with Torino and ranks behind only Charlton and Wayne Rooney in the club’s all-time scoring charts. Law also played a pivotal role in the Red Devils’ 1968 European Cup success, although he did miss the final through injury.
The list of bonafide greats to wear Man Utd’s No. 10 shirt is unrelenting, with George Best wearing it on occasion, alongside becoming synonymous with the No. 7. Lou Macari and Norman Whiteside both later ensured the number remained associated with brilliance at Old Trafford through the 1970s and 1980s, and the modern folk have continued to do the shirt justice.
Mark Hughes was United’s first No. 10 of the Premier League era, with fixed squad numbers introduced to England in 1993. The legendary striker kept the shirt until his shock departure to Chelsea in 1995. The Welshman scored 161 times for the club overall, ranking eighth all-time for goals. The shirt was vacant for the 1995–96 season before a burgeoning David Beckham succeeded Hughes. Well, that was until the seemingly more iconic No. 7 became available.
Teddy Sheringham was thus the next wearer, with the classy forward serving as United’s No. 10 between 1997 and 2001. He then passed it down to ruthless goalscorer Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United were happy to let the prolific forward depart in 2006 because they had an exciting new era to usher in. Wayne Rooney switched from No. 8 to No. 10 in 2007 and emerged as a protagonist at the Theatre of Dreams. He eventually became the club’s longest-serving No. 10, with many placing the bullish forward in the same esteemed light as the likes of Charlton, Law and Best.
Rooney was a leading figure during a mightily successful period at the club towards the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s dominant reign as manager. With 253 goals, he is the currently most prolific goalscorer in Manchester United’s history.
Zlatan Ibrahimović had few concerns with filling Rooney’s boots, but the veteran Swede functioned as United’s No. 10 only briefly, having played most of his games for the club in the No. 9 shirt.
The Englishman’s true successor was Marcus Rashford, who burst onto the scene as a teenager and looked set to lead the Red Devils into their next great era. The winger initially enjoyed plenty of success, but inconsistency and apparent off-field issues have plagued his career in recent times. Still, he could leave the club as their 13th-highest scorer ever.
