The horror story of Chelsea’s ‘cursed’ No 9 shirt from Lukaku to Morata and Torres
The horror story of Chelsea’s ‘cursed’ No 9 shirt: After Romelu Lukaku left the club on loan, head coach Thomas Tuchel disclosed on Friday that he has not had any offers for the shirt that should be highly sought after.
After leaving Inter for a record-setting price of 97.5 million pounds, the Belgian took it in good spirits throughout the summer of 2017.
Nevertheless, the enormous Belgian forward failed to live up to the standards set by his predecessors.
In 44 matches across all competitions, he was only able to score 15 goals, which is a very poor total.
Lukaku was released from his miserable situation at Stamford Bridge and transferred back to Milan in a deal worth £7 million on loan with an option to buy. However, there is no commitment to acquiring Lukaku at this time.
Tammy Abraham, the previous holder of this position, is currently on a tear in Serie A and established a record for the most goals scored by an Englishman in a season (17) during the previous campaign. Ironically.
In the following, we take a look at the flops who have been brought down by Stamford Bridge’s cursed shirt…
CHRIS SUTTON, 1999-2000
In 1999, Sutton relocated from Blackburn to West London for a price that was considered to be huge at the time: £10 million.
After establishing his reputation at Norwich and going on to win the championship with Blackburn, one could say that he had pedigree.
However, despite the high price tag and the type of play expected of him, he was only able to score one goal in 39 total matches.
Sutton was sold the next summer to Celtic for a fee of £6 million, and it was there that he was able to rediscover his form.
MATEJA KEZMAN, 2004-2005
It was the year that Chelsea won their first title in the Premier League, but it wasn’t due to the contributions of this Serbian forward.
When Kezman arrived at Ajax from PSV in a £6 million transaction, the truth was that he had some very large shoes to fill in the form of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
However, despite the fact that he ripped defenses to shreds in the Dutch league, he was unable to replicate that success on our soil.
After scoring four goals in 25 games, he was eventually transferred to Atletico Madrid.
KHALID BOULAHROUZ, 2006-07
At this moment, it’s possible that Chelsea was attempting to break the curse or relieve the pressure that their strikers were under.
However, after the nine million pound transfer from Hamburg in 2006, they awarded the No. 9 shirt to the Dutch defender Boulahrouz.
Although he was known as “The Cannibal,” he was unable to displace John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho from their positions.
Because of various injuries, he was only able to play in 20 games before being sent on loan to Sevilla. This did not improve his team’s chances of winning.
STEVE SIDWELL, 2007-08
The Blues made a peculiar move when they signed the player who had previously trained with Arsenal.
After making a name for himself at Reading for four years, Jose Mourinho was quick to sign him when he became available on a free transfer.
Sidwell was only given 25 opportunities to play for Chelsea before being transferred to Aston Villa because the Special One preferred to play Michael Essien and Frank Lampard together in the middle of the field.
There was an opening for a new person to wear the No. 9 shirt.
FRANCO DI SANTO, 2008-09
While Sidwell left, it was Argentine young prospect Di Santo who was given the shirt (and the hopes) to wear when the team played without Sidwell.
The center-forward, who was acquired from the Chilean club Audax Italiano for a transfer fee of £4 million, just couldn’t find his striking boots.
He appeared in 16 games, most of them as a substitute, however, he never appeared to have a shot at the goal.
A season after having a less-than-stellar season on loan with Blackburn, Di Santo was eventually sold to Wigan.
FERNANDO TORRES, 2011-15
Fans of Chelsea will claim that his goal against Barcelona in the Nou Camp that secured a berth for their team in the final of the Champions League in 2012 was worth his entire £50 million transfer fee on its own.
However, the legendary player from Spain was never able to find his footing while wearing the Chelsea jersey.
And it wasn’t the English football itself that was difficult for him because, during his four years with Liverpool, he scored 81 goals in 142 total matches.
However, ‘El Nino’ only had 45 strikes in 172 games with the Blues, which was a disappointing return.
RADAMEL FALCAO, 2015-16
Falcao’s previous stint at Manchester United was a complete failure, so Chelsea understood they were taking a risk by signing him.
In 2015, the striker who was originally from Colombia arrived on loan from Monaco with the intention of making the transfer permanent.
Because of problems with his fitness and the fast tempo of the game, he was only able to play in a total of 12 games.
Even more disappointing, he was only able to score one goal.
ALVARO MORATA, 2017-18
Morata, a striker for Spain who was purchased for £60 million in 2017, was the subject of yet another enormous transfer fee.
The former Real Madrid star entered his second season with a lot of pressure on his shoulders after scoring 15 goals in his debut year.
Morata even attempted to switch his shirt number to 29, but things became even worse for him in his second season with the club when he scored just five goals in the Premier League.
2019 saw the striker make a chagrined return to LaLiga with Atletico Madrid after spending time away from the competition.
GONZALO HIGUAIN, 2019
It was the dream signing for Maurizio Sarri, who had previously managed the English striker to great success at Napoli. Sarri knew just how to coax the greatest performance out of the player.
However, Higuain that played in Naples three years before and scored 91 goals in 146 games was a shell of his former self when he moved to England.
It turned out that our concerns about his fitness and pace were well founded.
And despite scoring a brace in his third game against Huddersfield, he was unable to recreate his goalscoring form from his time in Serie A, despite the fact that he scored both goals in that game.
After a period of six months, during which time he played 19 games and scored five goals, he went back to Juventus. It was a cruel twist of fate that Sarri was once again his boss.
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