Chelsea star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)
Chelsea signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the deadline day from Barcelona. While the fans were happy with his signature, many of them would have been surprised when the player chose the number 9 for himself.
For long, it has been considered that the number ‘nine’ is cursed at the west London club and that whichever striker has donned that number has never had a good time at the club in front of the goal.
Aubameyang has gotten off to a good start this season. The 33-year-old has scored two goals in four games for the club in all competitions and was most recently on the scoresheet in their 3-0 win against AC Milan in the Champions League last Wednesday.
Speaking after the victory against the Italian champions, the Gabon international was asked about the so-called curse. In the interview quoted in Football. London, the former Arsenal player said he was happy with the number nine.
“I don’t know, I don’t listen to these kind of things. I love the No.9 so I took it. I’m happy with that and hopefully I can score more goals.”
While this will come as a positive feeling for the fans, the history of that number at the club has been problematic. The likes of Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku all wore that number during their time at the club.
Both of them got off to a good start but then struggled for goals during the season. Morata played for the Blues for two seasons and could manage to score a mere 24 goals in 72 games in all competitions.
Lukaku has had two different spells with the west London club. The Belgian international played a total of 59 times for the Blues in all competitions in the two spells and could find the back of the net only 15 times.
While there is nothing concrete to prove that something may be wrong with the number, it is quite a popular theory among fans. They will hope that Aubameyang keeps getting on the scoresheet throughout the season and puts an end to this myth.
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