FOOTBALL LONDON
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has claimed he will give the number nine shirt to the next striker he signs amid rumours over a move for Darwin Nunez in the final week of the summer transfer window.
The legendary squad number has been passed through many strikers at Stamford Bridge, from Gianluca Vialli to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Tony Cascarino to Hernan Crespo. However, in recent years it has gained something of a reputation amongst the fanbase for being “cursed”.
Simply put, many believe that any striker that has gone on to wear the dreaded nine at Chelsea will simply flop for the club and will not reach the heights expected of them. Players such as Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku have all taken on the mantle in the past ten years.
None of them have managed to find much success at the club, with Tammy Abraham the only notable exception, though he was not deemed suitable for a long-term place in the side and was sold to AS Roma. Coming into the new season, the shirt was vacant, with plenty of speculation over new forward signings.
The first through the door was Christopher Nkunku, a prolific goalscorer in his time at RB Leipzig that has been able to play anywhere across the front three and as a ten. While some may have thought he would take the number nine, he doubled it and went for 18, which he had at Leipzig.
