Romelu Lukaku shows off the number 9 shirt on his return to Chelsea — it didn't go well. Credit: Getty Images/Darren Walsh
Chelsea's relationship with the No. 9 in the Premier League era was difficult to say the least — just ask Khalid Boularuz and Steve Sidwell — the club were one of only two in the top flight not to be awarded the famous jersey number at the beginning of the season. this season.
Only Chelsea and Wolves have started the campaign without a registered number 9 player. The owners, who jointly control Todd Boeli and Behdad Egbali, believe that breaking the British transfer record is easier than breaking the Blues striker's so-called curse.
Friday night's visit from recently promoted Luton Town to Stamford Bridge offers strikers Nicholas. Jackson and Raheem Sterling have a great opportunity to miss, but Mark Stein, who scored 25 goals in 63 matches under Chelsea's number 9 and won the League Cup with the Hatters, can't understand why no one needs the famous jersey.< /p>
«I couldn't believe it when I found out that Chelsea hadn't registered a number 9 yet,» Stein said. «I actually think it's quite disturbing.
«You think of players like Peter Osgood and Kerry Dixon, and thanks to them I was honored to wear the number 9. Of course, it was accompanied by pressure, but it was good pressure because it was you who scored the goals.”
Mark Stein tries to escape the attention of Manchester United's Paul Ince in the 1994 FA Cup Final when the number 9 shirt was not scared the Chelsea attackers. Photo: Allsport/Getty Images 
Fernando Torres's form seemed to plummet as he put on the Chelsea number 9 shirt. Photo: Action Images/Jed Leicester
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted last season that «no one wants to touch» the number 9 shirt, believing it to be cursed after Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku competed in it. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang eventually took him, but endured a bad season and left Stamford Bridge this summer.
“I understand that players are superstitious, but if I were still playing, I would like this number 9 jersey,” said Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. Matte. «It's part of the tradition and history of the club, it should be an honor and a privilege to wear it.»
Stein wore the number 10 shirt for Luton and added: “Mick Harford was number 9 when I was at the club and he would have landed you with a right hook if you tried to take it away from him. That's how much it meant.»
Current manager Mauricio Pochettino was surprised to hear about Chelsea's so-called «number nine curse» and said he would now work to reverse it.
» It's true, isn't it? Oh my god, we need to do something to change the energy,” Pochettino said with a smile. «I'll ask the equipment salesman to bring all nine jerseys and we'll do something to break it.
«If we bring in another striker now, I'll be sure he's using a nine and try to change the feeling and the idea that this number is cursed.
José Mourinho could laugh at this. the fact that defender Boulahrouz and midfielder Sidwell were both number 9 during their first tenure as manager because he had one Didier Drogba — wearing 15 and then 11 — scoring goals, and during his second tenure at number 19 scored by Didier Costa. the struggle between Torres and Radamel Falcao is rather insignificant.
Chelsea's struggle at number nine
Chelsea's problem now is that they don't have a number nine and no verified goalscorer at the club, with the exception of Lukaku, who was handed the shirt on his return to Stamford Bridge but doesn't have a team number on his return from the season. on loan at Inter Milan.
Make no mistake, numbers matter to players. That's why goalkeeper Robert Sanchez moved to number 1 after Kepa Arrizabalaga went on loan to Real Madrid, and Sterling moved from number 17 to number 7 this summer. That's probably why strikers Jackson and Christopher Nkunku chose 15 and 18 respectively , which they wore in their former clubs.
Nkunku's pre-season injury was a huge blow as there was optimism that the Frenchman could form a fruitful partnership with Jackson, who is impressive in almost every aspect other than hitting the scoresheet in his first two games.
At 22 Jackson will improve, but 10 of his 12 La Liga goals for Villarreal last season came in the last 11 games, which suggests he may still be a long way from becoming a regular threat Golam.
Sky pundit Jamie Redknapp wondered why Jackson didn't try to convert the penalty Enzo Fernandez conceded against West Ham United. It may have been a little unfair, but the fact that neither the Senegal international nor Sterling have stepped up suggests that Chelsea do not yet have a numbers specialist among their strikers.
Manchester City, Newcastle United and Liverpool all have strikers who expect to score over 20 goals in a season: Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson and Mohamed Salah. The Reds are hoping their £85m No. 9, Darwin Nunes, can do well this season.
Gabriel Jesus hasn't had much success for Arsenal, but they successfully shared the burden last season between several strikers and Manchester United are looking to improve on their 58 goals scored last season once new player Rasmus Høilund is ready to play.
Chelsea have scored 20 fewer goals than United, who was the top scoring player in the top four last season. and they will likely need to score at least 30 more than their dismal 38 to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
But two games in the first two games this season already suggest Goals could again be a problem for Chelsea and finding someone to be honored to wear the club number '9' like Stein would at least serve as an incentive for the club to have a striker who wants to be judged by his performance.
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