Matheus was presented with his new jersey after the group training session at Carrington on Tuesday.
The Brazilian reacted with pride and deference to those who have come before him, name-checking some of United’s most celebrated forwards of recent years.
“Yeah, wow. It’s something that you always dream about,” he told us.
“I can mention many players that use this shirt. It’s so easy for me.
“Of course, I think the one that I always think about when I see this number in this shirt for me was Wayne Rooney. He was someone that I grew up to watch him play and I have [watched] many games now.
“Then I swapped shirts with Marcus [Rashford, after a game] also, I have his shirt in my home. But, of course, we know many players used this shirt – [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic.
“It’s the dream not only to use the shirt, but with all the history they have around the number, it’s something beautiful that I have the privilege to do it.”