Some already call it a curse – the Chelsea no.9 shirt curse. When you add a big number on the price tag to it, it combines to a nightmare that makes you wonder – does money get you goals and is there something in numerical superstition?One top attacker after another disappoints in London. It seems to be law at Stamford Bridge – expensive strikers and Chelsea – it just doesn’t fit.Of course the first name that pops into one’s mind is Romelu Lukaku but it goes way back. Before the Belgian, the attacker’s curse overtook numerous other forwards. Even Ukraine legend Andrei Shevchenko (45) fell short of expectations at Chelsea.He moved from AC Milan to London in 2006 for around 44 million euros, came as the reigning top scorer in the Champions League. In the Premier League, the current coach has only scored nine times in 48 appearances.If you think Ramos and Van Dijk are striker’s worst nightmare then you’ve never heard of Chelsea’s number 9 jersey curse. pic.twitter.com/XfNiEQITI8— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) June 23, 2022 Two Spaniards that gave massive numbers before joining the Blues and underperformed were Fernando Torres and Alvaro Morata. The first-mentioned was one of the most productive goal-scorers while playing for Liverpool but completely fell out of form after joining Carlo-Ancelotti-led Chelsea in 2011 for 58.5 million euros. Morata had a great start at the Bridge but it did not take much time for that to turn into a sigh of disappointment.More Spanish-speaking strikers tried battling the pressure of the 9 on the back of the blue shirt. Hernan Crespo (took the #9 after initially wearing #21), Gonzalo Higuain and Radamel Falcao came, saw and pretty much ran away after failing to impose themselves as important attacking options.##EDITORS_CHOICE##We can only mention players who took the number but were not classic strikers such as Khalid Bouhlarouz or Steve Sidwell. Or center forwards who were too young or not widely known at the moment of putting on the ‘cursed’ shirt such as Franco Di Santo. None of these left an imprint in the Chelsea FC community.There were examples of those not having an issue with being the spearhead of Chelsea’s offensive while having that number on the back. Great examples of the far past are Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink or Gianluca Vialli. Or the recent past – a youngster from the club’s academy who did not succumb to the stress of the number was Tammy Abraham.Is Chelsea’s number ‘9’ Jersey really cursed? pic.twitter.com/23CqW977Lb— Yaw Ampofo Jr (@Yaw_Ampofo_) June 21, 2022 Chelsea saw great success with strikers who steered clear of the ‘nine’ and on top of that were not paid jaw-dropping amounts. One of the club’s greatest – Ivorian legend – Dider Drogba (#11, 28 million euros in 2004) or the untameable but massively productive Diego Costa (#19, 35 million euros in 2014).So is it really about the number on the back and on the price tag?The Blues shelled out an incredible 113 million euros for Lukaku last summer. In 26 Premier League games, Lukaku scored eight times and was often more likely to miss top chances. Now he’s moving back to Inter Milan, giving up a large part of his princely Chelsea salary.Sat 00:55: (1.71) Banfield (3.70) Barracas (5.40)Let’s add one more current player, wondering at Stamford Bridge, trying to find his best self. Timo Werner (26) cost 53 million euros in 2020 – 10 goals in 56 league appearances hardly justify the sum.Since 2011 alone, the Stamford Bridge club has spent a total of 384.5 million euros on seven striker flops Even so, the 2012 and 2021 Champions League winner continues to look for the prolific goal-scorer who can finally follow in the footsteps of club legend Drogba.Honorable mentions: Olivier Giroud, Michy Batshuayi, Mateja Kezman, Alexandre Pato, Samuel Eto’o…After Hernan Crespo Chelsea haven’t won the league when they have a player wearing number 9 shirt.Gonzalo HiguainAlvaro MorataRadamel FalcaoFernando TorresSteve SidwellKhalid BoulahrouzHasselbainkTammy AbrahamRomelu Lukaku pic.twitter.com/AXUBTXTFyy— HF WORLD (@HfutbolW) June 21, 2022
