The history of Chelsea's cursed No.9 shirt

Can Lukaku end the 'curse' of Chelsea's No.9 shirt? Let's take a look first at the history of Chelsea's No.9 shirt!

Hernan Crespo – (£16million from Inter Milan in 2003)

Hernan Crespo scored a respectable tally of 13 goals in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, but that wasn’t enough to convince new manager Jose Mourinho in 2004.

The Argentine joined AC Milan on loan after being surplus to requirements under Mourinho, who signed Didier Drogba.

He returned to Chelsea and netted 13 times in their Premier League-winning 2005/06 season.

But his Blues career would peak there. Crespo joined Inter Milan on a two-year loan before leaving Chelsea after his contract expired in 2008.

Mateja Kezman – (£5million from PSV in 2004)

Mateja Kezman was one of Jose Mourinho’s first signings as Chelsea boss.

But the Serb’s playing time was limited by first-choice strikers Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen, two men who thankfully never wore the No. 9 shirt.

He managed to score seven goals in 40 appearances, before leaving the club after just one season.

Khalid Boulahrouz – (£7million from Hamburg in 2006)

Defenders shouldn’t be allowed to wear No. 9 and Khalid Boulahrouz was quite rightly punished by the football gods.

He wasn’t even first-choice, instead brought in to add competition to Paulo Ferreira’s starting spot.

He made 23 appearances in his debut season before being loaned to Sevilla for the 2007/08 campaign and joined Stuttgart on a permanent deal in 2009.

Steve Sidwell – (Free from Reading in 2007)

Not quite as bad as a defender, but No. 9 is still absolutely off limits for a midfielder and Steve Sidwell found out the hard way.

The signing itself was just as odd as his choice of number.

Sidwell made 25 appearances, mostly as a substitute, and was sold to Aston Villa for £5million in 2008.

Franco Di Santo – (£3million from Audax Italiano in 2008)

Franco Di Santo joined Chelsea as an 18-year-old and never started a game for the club.

The Argentina striker failed to find the net in 16 substitute appearances, but still got his hands on the No. 9 shirt for a bit.

An unsuccessful loan to Blackburn followed before signing for Wigan for £2million in 2010.

Fernando Torres – (£50million from Liverpool in 2011)

Chelsea broke the British transfer record to bring Fernando Torres to Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard was one of Europe’s most prolific strikers at the time, scoring 81 goals in 142 games for Liverpool.

Torres won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup with the Blues, while finding the net 46 times in 172 appearances.

He could have been the long-term successor to Drogba, but his displays in a Chelsea shirt were far from convincing.

He spent two seasons on loan at AC Milan and Atletico Madrid before joining the Serie A giants on a permanent deal in December 2014.

Radamel Falcao – (Season-long loan from Monaco in 2015)

Despite scoring just four goals at Manchester United in the 2014/15 season, Mourinho gave Radamel Falcao a Premier League lifeline.

He was brought in as cover for Diego Costa and started just two games for Chelsea.

The Colombia striker scored once in 12 appearances. Chelsea had an option to make the deal permanent, which obviously, they didn’t take up.

Alvaro Morata – (£60million from Real Madrid in 2017)

Chelsea broke their club-record transfer fee to sign Morata, who had been prolific with Real Madrid and Juventus.

The Spain international got off to a flying start, scoring eight goals in as many games, including a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Stoke City.

But it went downhill from there.

Unpopular among the fans, Morata eventually lost his starting place to Olivier Giroud and ended up ditching his number nine shirt.

This wasn’t because of Chelsea’s number nine curse, though, he changed numbers in honour of his twins’ birth. Or so he said.

Gonzalo Higuain – (loan from Juventus, 2019)

A proven goalscorer at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, and still only 31, surely the Argentine would break the curse?

Alas, no.

Higuain would last only half a season on loan at Stamford Bridge, netting just five Premier League goals in a forgettable venture.

Tammy Abraham – (academy graduate)

The 23-year-old is unlucky to be included in this list, because he was actually quite good for Chelsea.

Abraham scored goals at a perfectly-acceptable rate and it looked like the curse was broken, until Thomas Tuchel arrived.

For whatever reason, the England international just doesn’t fit into the Chelsea manager’s plans.

It must be the No. 9 shirt, it’s the only possible explanation.

Over to you, Romelu.