Real Madrid's Mariano speaks on why he dared to take the legendary #7 jersey

Only time will tell whether the striker can follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul.

Living a swift life after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez was under extreme pressure to bring in a marquee signing to don the prestigious #7 jersey at the club. After much transfer speculation, the Los Blancos striker was entrusted with the jersey and has now spoken about it.

In a candid conversation with Cadena COPE on Wednesday, he revealed the reason behind wearing Madrid’s #7 this season.

“I don’t think it matters much. Does it add some pressure? Sure. But, it was free and it’s a number I like and a challenge for me. I’m happy to wear that number after so many legends like Amancio, Juanito, Butragueño, Raul...I saw them play when I was young. And Ronaldo, sure."

"It was free for someone to take, every Madrid fan knows it and they asked me what number I was going to take. I imagine somebody else could’ve taken it, I don’t know if they wanted to, but I don’t think they didn’t dare to take it. There are some quality players who could wear #7 here as well,” said Mariano.

Marco Asensio said recently that he would like to change his  #20 sooner or later, but didn’t reveal whether #7 would be a priority for him. Mariano doesn’t know much about it either.

“He didn’t say anything about it and I’ve been talking with him lately. I congratulated him for the two golazos he scored. We really get along, he’s a very good friend. What would I do if he asked me to change numbers? Well, I don’t know, it’s not a huge deal. So much people talked to me about it, saying I should not take it, telling me that it brings pressure with it...Everything. I’m not thinking about it, all I’m thinking of is training every single day so that I can play minutes,” added the attacker.

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Mariano hasn’t made his debut for Madrid just yet, but said he is working hard to be in manager Julen Lopetegui’s plans.

“I don’t know when I’ll make my debut. I work so that it can be as soon as possible. I will just keep working hard. Lopetegui told me to keep doing what I’m doing right now,” concluded the forward.

Mariano has been around the Santiago Bernabeu since 2011 and after working hard in the reserve squads, he earned a call-up in the 2016-17 season when Karim Benzema was ruled out due to his back injury.