Manchester United legend Bryan Robson would love to see Juan Mata take his famous No7 shirt.
Antonio Valencia gave up the number last summer.
Robbo declared: "No-one has had the shirt this season, but Mata is good enough to be our No. 7.
"His temperament is such that it wouldn't overawe him after it has been worn by players like Beckham and Ronaldo.
"Mata has some of the qualities of previous United No. 7s, even though he has a style of his own and doesn't remind me of any player in particular.
"The similarities are that he is a creative player with great skill and the fans love to watch players like that.
"Before I joined United, the No. 7 shirt was famous in my eyes because it used to be worn for England by Kevin Keegan.
"But it became my number at West Brom and I regarded it as a lucky number for me, because it was when I was wearing that shirt that I established myself in my favourite position in the centre of midfield.
"Before that, I had played all over the place, including left back and centre half."
United paid West Brom £1.5 million in 1981 for Robson, now 57.
And Robbo recalls: "The No. 7 shirt had become important to me and at United, it was being worn at the time by Steve Coppell.
"I asked Steve if he would let me have it and explained why and Steve said: 'No problem Bryan - it's yours.'
"In my final year at United I let Eric (Cantona) have it when he wanted to wear it.
"I said to the gaffer, Alex Ferguson: ' You've got Paul Ince and Roy Keane, I know this is going to be my last season here.'
"So I was happy to switch to the No. 12 shirt at that time.
"Since then, the No. 7 shirt seems to have become even more special at United and Mata would be worthy of having it."
