Cursed Premier League Numbers Including Chelsea’s Number 9 and Man Utd’s Number 7

Shirt numbers have become important elements of football culture. Many have made these numbers a brand or an identity.

Lionel is famously called LM10 after his iconic number 10, while Cristiano Ronaldo is called CR7.

Some specific numbers are given out to certain positions. The number 10 is majorly handed out to attacking midfielders or star players of the team, numbers 7 and 11 to wingers, 2 and 3 to full-backs, while 4, 5 and 6 are given to central defenders and defensive midfielders.

It is not an accident if a number continues to look like the reason for the downfall of players wearing them.

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As observed by Football365, below are the most 'cursed' shirt numbers in the league.

Chelsea's number 9

You cannot talk about cursed football numbers without mentioning Chelsea's number 9. It was bad enough that it was handed to a defender, Khalid Boulahrouz and he failed.

Many big names have worn it and dumped it. Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao, Fernando Torres, Franco Di Santo, Steve Sidwell, Hernan Crespo, and Mateja Kezman have all stumbled at the club in the jersey.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's recent fallout, as reported by Athletic UK, further continued the curse on another elite striker. Academy graduate, Tammy Abraham scored 30 goals in two seasons with the shirt before he departed for AS Roma.

Manchester United's number 7

Cristiano Ronaldo excelled in the famous number and made it part of his identity. After his departure for Real Madrid in 2009, all those who wore the shirt after him struggled - Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, and even Edinson Cavani.

The Portuguese star returned to the club in 2021 and picked up his number. He again excelled, scoring 24 goals before departing for the second time midway through the second season, rather unceremoniously.

Others 'cursed' jersey numbers

Though not as pronounced as Chelsea's, Arsenal's number 9 also appears to be cursed. The last two to have worn it before Gabriel Jesus were Julio Baptista and Lucas Perez, both of whom never made it at the club.

Tottenham Hotspur's number 9 also has its supposed curse. It is currently occupied by Brazilian forward, Richarlison, who is yet to score a Premier League goal after joining for £60 million in the summer, according to Sky Sports.

Vincent Janssen, Roberto Soldado, and Roman Pavyluchenko were the previous occupants of the number.

It is rare for players to wear big numbers in the English league, but even so, it is hard to point to a Liverpool player to have won the number 29 and succeeded.

Goalkeeper, Brad Friedel was the first to wear it, after which Stephen Wright, Patrice Luzi, Fabio Borini, and Dominic Solanke all struggled.

The current occupant is a loan signing, Arthur Melo, who joined from Juventus but only played 13 minutes before suffering a long-term injury.

Honourable mentions include Leeds' number 11, Everton's number 14, Aston Villa's number 9, Arsenal's number 2 and Chelsea's number 15.

Tuchel comments on Chelsea's 9

Sports Brief also reported on former Chelsea coach, Thomas Tuchel confirming players avoided number 9, claiming it is cursed and being unwilling to touch it.

Abraham scored 12 goals in all competitions with the number, while the German fell out with Belgian striker, Lukaku who took the jersey number after Abraham left.

Tuchel handpicked Gabonese striker, Aubameyang to be signed, but the pair only had 59 minutes together on the pitch and his future with the Blues is undecided.