Aubameyang intends to break the curse of the number 9 at Chelsea. Who has managed to fight the curse and which stars have burned out?

The number 9 is considered cursed in Chelsea. Even Blues coach Thomas Tuchel has said so publicly. This is evidenced by the fact that several stars have failed in the London team with the number 9 on their backs. Now Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will try to break the curse. Who wore the number nine before him?

The curse has been around since the Premier League’s inception

The Premier League was founded in 1992. It was at Chelsea that the story of the number 9 began to be written. The first player to wear it was Tony Cascarino, who was at the club from 1992 to 1994. He scored only 6 goals in two seasons.

His successor did much better. Like Cascarino, Mark Stein lasted two years at the club, but scored 25 goals in 63 games. Gianluca Vialli also left a big footprint behind him, and it took him three years to become a legend.

Vialli won the FA Cup, the League Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup between 1996 and 1999. He scored 40 goals in 84 games and made a significant impact on the club’s history.

But then Chris Sutton came in for £10 million and performed disastrously. He scored one goal a season and left the club after a year.

Then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink became arguably the best nine in the club’s history for a change. He spent 4 years at the club, came in as a record signing and lived up to expectations. He became a key player, scoring goals and making assists. In 177 games, he scored 87 goals and added 23 assists.

After Hasselbaink, no one has shone since

After Hasselbaink, no one else has shone. Mateja Keznan did win the title with Chelsea, he came as an interesting talent from PSV Eindhoven, but he scored only 4 goals and left after a year.

The sad story of Hernán Crespo followed. He didn’t burn out at the club, but it must have been hard for the fans that he shone much more in other jerseys. At Parma, in particular, he became a legend. He scored 13 goals for the Blues with the number nine on his back.

Other players who didn’t make it with the number nine included Khalid Boulahrouz, Steve Sidwell and Franco Di Sanco. All spent only a year at Chelsea. No one wore the number nine from 2009 to January 2011 in a Blues jersey.

But then Fernando Torres arrived from Liverpool for a record £50 million. A big star, an outstanding striker. But his performances have fallen short of expectations. He didn’t disappoint, scoring some very important goals, especially the winning one in the Champions League final in 2012, which no one will forget. However, more was expected from him.

The goal machine turned into an incredible burner. In 175 games, he scored only 45 goals. It doesn’t even compare to his stats at Liverpool. And unfortunately, the star sharpshooter Radamel Falcao followed in his footsteps, scoring one goal in 10 games.

Next on the list of failures is Alvaro Morata. He came in again as an interesting reinforcement. Chelsea paid £70 million for him, signing him on a five-year contract. But again, it was no great glory (72 games, 24 goals).

Later came Gonzalo Higuaín, who had a shot in the jersey of Real Madrid or Napoli. He wasn’t a flop at Juventus either. But in London, he was terrible. After all, 5 goals in 18 games says it all.

After that, Tammy Abraham was the number nine. He didn’t disappoint, but he didn’t make the lineup. Then came the return of Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea didn’t hesitate to pay a huge sum for him again, making him a record signing for almost £100 million. But to no avail. In 26 games, he only scored 8 times.

Source: Chelsea, Transfermarkt, Sky Sports