BREAKING: Why Aubameyang Picked ‘Cursed’ Chelsea Shirt Number
Tammy Abraham is arguably the only player who has impressed donning that jersey
Aubameyang picks ‘cursed’ Chelsea shirt number
Some players don’t believe in myths or superstitions around shirt numbers, instead, they believe in what they can do and how best they can do that.
One of such people will be former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who has completed a deadline-day move to Chelsea and has opted for the ‘cursed’ number 9 jersey.
They have handed Aubameyang the No.9 shirt at Chelsea after completing his move from Barcelona on deadline day.
The 33-year-old has joined for a fee in the region of £12.2m, becoming Todd Boehly’s seventh addition of the summer as Denis Zakaria made it eight in the early hours of Friday morning.
Aubameyang has penned a two-year deal in west London, with Blues defender Marcos Alonso making his own move to the Camp Nou in part-exchange.
This brings an end to an end his short spell with Barcelona having only agreed to a deal with the Spanish giants in January following his departure from Arsenal.
Since then, the 33-year-old has made 24 appearances for Barca in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and helping Xavi’s men book a place in the Champions League this season.
Instead of representing Barcelona in the competition, Aubameyang will instead be donning the blue of Chelsea with his move to Stamford Bridge having now been confirmed.
He has since been gifted the opportunity to wear the ‘cursed’ No.9 jersey as he tries to succeed at the club where many others failed.
In fact, the last player who wore that shirt was Romelu Lukaku after he returned to the club for his second spell last summer. The Belgium striker, however, struggled at the Blues and scored just eight Premier League goals in 26 matches before he decided to re-join Inter on loan.
Gonzalo Higuain also failed to live up to expectations when he made the switch to Chelsea in January 2019.
It was Maurizio Sarri’s dream signing – a striker he knew how to get the best out of after managing the Argie at Napoli to great success.
But Higuain who scored 91 goals in 146 games in Naples three years prior was a shadow of his former self in England. He netted five times in 19 matches, before returning to Juventus.
Meanwhile, Higuain replaced the outgoing Alvaro Morata, who arrived in 2017 for around £60m. A lot was expected of the ex-Real Madrid star, who managed 15 goals in his first season. Morata even tried to change his shirt number to 29, but things got worse in his second campaign as he scored just five Premier League goals.
This was all after Radamel Falcao tried to take on the reigns despite his disastrous year at Manchester United. He arrived on loan with the idea of making the move permanent from Monaco in 2015. Struggles with his fitness and the pace of the game saw him restricted to just 12 games, netting just one goal.
Fernando Torres, Franco di Santo and Chris Sutton are amongst the other players to struggle with wearing the No.9 shirt at the Blues over the years.CONTINUE READING
Tammy Abraham is arguably the only player who has impressed donning that jersey as he struck 18 goals in his first full season at the club, before being frozen out.
