Chelsea record signing Romelu Lukaku will choose the number 9 shirt at Chelsea after Tammy Abraham left the Blues for AS Roma. However, the number on the back is often used by players who fail rather than succeed. Romelu Lukaku was initially given the number 18 shirt after the player returned to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan last week. Romelu Lukaku officially returned to Chelsea on Thursday (12/8/2021) for a transfer fee of 97.5 pounds. This figure is also a Chelsea transfer record.
The number 18 is Lukaku’s first number when he first played for the Blues in 2011-2014.Now, the record breaker can wear the number 9 following Tammy Abraham’s departure to AS Roma permanently this summer. “Can I say it? Yes, I have a No.9. I am happy and lucky to be in this situation,” Lukaku said in a press conference on Wednesday. In this case, Lukaku also took a “reckless” decision considering the number has a dark history.
Since the English League changed its format to the Premier League in 1992-1993, as many as 13 strikers have tasted the number 9 shirt in the London Blue. Ironically, only two people survived the curse. With the benchmark of goal collection, two figures who were considered successful when carrying the number 9 shirt with Chelsea were Gianluca Vialli and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Vialli scored a total of 40 goals in 88 appearances for Chelsea during the period 1996–99. He even had a dual role as a player and coach after the sacking of Ruud Gullit.
Another player, Hasselbaink, made a total of 177 appearances and 87 goals for Chelsea in four years (2000–2004). However, 11 other Chelsea number 9 owners have had no success using the number 9. One of them is Spanish striker Fernando Torres. Five years serving for Chelsea, the Spanish national bomber was only able to contribute 20 goals from the results of 110 appearances in the English League.
Meanwhile, Tammy Abraham is Chelsea’s last number 9 user before Lukaku. Abraham carved a total of 30 goals from 79 matches while wearing this number for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. It would be interesting to see how Lukaku will perform this season with Chelsea.
Interestingly, the number 9 million has been used twice by non-attacking players. Midfielder Steve Sidwell wore it in 2007-2008. Before that, and most uniquely, Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz wore it for the 2006-2007 season. Below is Chelsea number 9 in the Premier League era:
Radamel Falcao
Franco Di Santo
Chris Sutton
Tony Cascarino
Mateja Kezman
Gianluca Vialli
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Gonzalo Higuain
Alvaro Morata
Tammy Abraham
Hernan Crespo
Mark Stein
Fernando Torres
Khalid Boulahrouz
Steve Sidwell
ASL
