11 players who suffered from the curse of the Chelsea No.9 shirt | OneFootball

Highlights

Football is full of superstition. From the Drake curse to not touching the Champions League trophy before winning it, fans will insist that fate can be sealed long before a ball is even kicked. One of the most famous beliefs within the English game right now relates to Chelsea Football Club.

Indeed, dating way back to the mid-2000s, there have been a number of exciting footballers who have arrived at Stamford Bridge, taken on the number nine shirt, only to then fail to live up to expectations. This has led to what is now known as the curse of the Chelsea No.9. Even former manager Thomas Tuchel referenced it when the number became vacant after flop Romelu Lukau departed on loan. Speaking in August 2022, the German coach told the Guardian:

The last player to wear it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – more on him later – and it is currently available once more. Young striker Nicolas Jackson is currently one candidate to take on the shirt in the future, but he opted to take no.15 when arriving from Villarreal in the summer. Academy graduate Armando Broja could also be an option, but for now, he wears number 19. With that being the case, GIVEMESPORT has taken a look at all of the players to have flopped in the no.9 shirt over recent years, as a way of better understanding why no one in the current Blues squad wants to touch the number.

11 Mateja Kezman - 2004/05

Mateja Kezman arrived in West London during the exciting early era of José Mourinho's first spell with the club. The Serbian striker was one of many flash new signings made by Roman Abramovich as the Russian's wealth assured a generation of success for the Blues.

However, Kezman never really delivered the goods for Chelsea. He scored just seven times in 41 games for Mourinho and co, before being sold to Atletico Madrid one season later. His first goal for the Blues came in December and he would not find the net again until March – perhaps this explains why he didn't last long in England.

10 Hernán Crespo - 2005/06

Despite spending four months out injured, Hernán Crespo scored seven goals in 18 Serie A games, and nine goals in 12 Champions League matches during his final season at Inter Milan. This led Chelsea to splash £16.8m on the Argentine in 2003.

He actually wore the number 21 shirt originally but after a poor first season, the striker was loaned to AC Milan. He then returned to England in 2005 and took on the number nine shirt. He scored only 10 league goals that term, not a terrible return but hardly a tally befitting a player of his previous reputation. He ended up back at Inter Milan the following summer.

9 Khalid Boulahrouz - 2006/07

Perhaps hoping to alleviate some of the goalscoring pressure associated with the shirt, defender Khalid Boulahrouz was the next man to wear number nine for the Blues. However, the versatile Dutchman didn't perform particularly well for the club.

Like the others, he lasted just one season with the no.9 on the back of his kit before being loaned to Sevilla. Boulahrouz made just 23 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea, with midfielder Michael Essien preferred at centre-back whenever one of John Terry or Ricardo Carvalho was missing.

8 Steve Sidwell - 2007/08

After Boulahrouz, another non-attacking player came in and took the number nine. This time it was English midfielder Steve Sidwell. Having come through the Arsenal academy, he later impressed in the Premier League with Reading and then made the step up to a big club when he joined Chelsea in 2007 after his contract expired.

He would spend just one year with the Blues, though, joining Aston Villa the following season. In his single campaign, Sidwell did at least manage to claim 25 appearances but he struggled to establish himself as a regular starter and Mourinho clearly never rated him too highly.

7 Franco Di Santo - 2008/09 - 2009/10

For the first time in our list, we have a player here who managed to keep hold of the shirt for more than just a single season! Indeed, Franco Di Santo spent two campaigns with the Blues but failed to score a single goal in the Premier League or any other competition.

He arrived from the Chilean team Audax Italiano in 2008, initially linking up with the club's reserve team. He later got the call-up to the senior side but played just 16 times before being loaned to Blackburn Rovers and then sold to Wigan Athletic.

6 Fernando Torres 2010/11 - 2014/15

Arguably the most notable player to feel the pain of the no.9 curse, Fernando Torres spent a number of seasons lighting up the Premier League in a Liverpool shirt. Abramovich fell in love with the Spaniard and spent £50m to bring him to West London.

We all know what happened next. Torres completely flopped, taking 903 minutes of football to score his first goal. He did manage that famous Champions League semi-final goal against Barcelona but that was a rare bright moment in an otherwise disappointing spell at Chelsea.

5 Radamel Falcao - 2015/16

Having scored 70 goals in 91 games for Atletico Madrid, Radamel Falcao was, for a period, right up there with the most lethal strikers in Europe. He then surprised a few by joining Monaco where a severe ACL injury in his left knee halted his momentum as an elite footballer.

He first came to England with Manchester United but a season with the Red Devils only yielded four goals. Despite that, Chelsea took their chances on the Colombian and had even less success as he netted just once in 12 matches for the Blues. You can blame the curse, but Falcao's career was on the slide long before he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

4 Álvaro Morata - 2017/18

Álvaro Morata arrived from Real Madrid in 2017 for a reported club-record fee of around £60m and immediately took on the number nine shirt. Despite managing 15 goals in total during his first season, many were left unconvinced by the Spaniard.

He decided to then change his shirt to no.29 the next summer, to pay tribute to his newborn twins who were born July 29. Perhaps the curse was also in the back of his mind, but the change didn't help as he was back on loan at Atlético Madrid by January.

3 Gonzalo Higuaín - 2018/19

Gonzalo Higuaín's loan felt a little bit too similar to Falcao's move in the sense that he was another once-prolific goalscorer who now appeared a little past his sell-by date. Chelsea didn't read the warning signs, however, and were made to pay the price.

The Argentine arrived from Juventus off the back of a middling loan with AC Milan and was reunited with Maurizio Sarri, whom he played under at Napoli. The connection did not spark in West London, though, and Higuaín left with just five goals to his name and zero assists.

2 Romelu Lukaku - 2021/22

Academy graduate Tammy Abraham wore the shirt for the next few seasons and did well enough to keep his name off this list but in 2021/22 Romelu Lukaku arrived for big money and unfortunately became the next man to fall victim to the no.9 curse.

This was of course the Belgian's second spell at Chelsea but he wore no.18 back then. In his first season back, he scored just eight league goals in 26 games – hardly enough for a £97.5m signing – and returned to Inter Milan the next summer. He still technically plays for the Blues but is on loan at Roma right now.

1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 22/23

For a while, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was up there with the best strikers in the Premier League, winning the Golden Boot in 2018/19. However, after falling out with Mikel Arteta he was kicked out of the team and made his way to Barcelona where he showed enough glimpses of his goalscoring talent to earn a return to England.

This time at Chelsea, he looked completely washed up, scoring just three times for the Blues during his time at Stamford Bridge. He was also excluded from the 25-man Champions League squad for the knockout stages by his coach at the time Graham Potter. Aubameyang left for Marseille in the summer of 2023.