Pierre Emerick Aubameyang Tasked with Breaking Number 9 Curse at Chelsea

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to wear the number 9 shirt after completing a move to Chelsea
• The Blues announced a deal had been agreed with Barcelona on deadline day that would see Marcos Alonso go the other way
• The infamous number 9 shirt at Chelsea has been associated with a ‘curse’ as many previous strikers bearing the shirt number have struggled

New Chelsea superstar Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has subtly been tasked with breaking the ‘number 9 curse’ at his new club as he was presented with his shirt number on Thursday, September 1.

The 33-year-old became Chelsea owner Todd Boelhy’s seventh summer signing after completing a deal believed to be worth £12.2m.

Aubameyang has signed a two-year deal with the West London club, and the deal between the two clubs also involved wingback Marcos Alonso going the other way.

It marked an end to his short stint at Barcelona, a club he only joined in January 2022.

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At Chelsea, he will be tasked with filling up the number 9 shirt where many of his predecessors have previously failed over the years.

Chelsea’s number 9 history

The last player to wear the Number 9 at Chelsea was Romelu Lukaku, whom , despite making a stunning return to Stamford Bridge last year, failed to live up to his form in the Serie A that saw him help Inter win the Scudetto in 2020/21.

Lukaku only managed eight Premier League goals in 26 appearances, before eventually being loaned back to Inter.

Another Chelsea number 9 who failed to live up to expectation was Gonzalo Higuain, who was a dream signing for Maurizio Sarri in 2019. He however only managed five goals in 19 appearances before returning to Juventus.

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At Chelsea, Higuain had replaced Alvaro Morata, who arrived at the club in 2017 for £60m with a lot of expectation from Real Madrid.

Morata would manage only 15 goals in his first season and according to The Sun, even tried to have his shirt number changed.

Prior to that it was former Atletico Madrid star Radamel Falcao who was given the number 9 shirt at Chelsea after his move from Manchester United. The Colombian also struggled, notching just once in 12 appearances for Chelsea in a spell that was plagued by injuries.

Hopefully Aubameyang will have a different experience with the Chelsea number 9 shirt.

Fofana names Chelsea player who influenced Stamford Bridge move

Elsewhere, Wesley Fofana has revealed that Reece James messaged him to convince him to make a summer move to Chelsea

The French defender had been shortlisted as a top transfer target for the Blues to reinforce their backline.

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And after failed bids, the west Londoners eventually managed to snap up the youngster on Tuesday in a £70m deal.