After Fernando Torres, Romelu Lukaku, Pierre-Emerick Aumbameyang and more, can Liam Delap break the Chelsea No. 9 'curse'?
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Updated 07/06/2025 at 15:03 GMT+1
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Chelsea have issued an early statement of intent ahead of the coming season with the £30m signing of Liam Delap from Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old has been signed to lead the line for the Blues and has been handed the No. 9 shirt. History suggests this may or may not be a good thing, however, with many strikers - and non-strikers - donning the shirt to varying degrees of success.
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Liam Delap is a Chelsea player and will be tasked with leading the line for The Blues for potentially many seasons to come, after putting pen to paper on a six-year deal.
The former Ipswich Town striker scored 12 times in his debut Premier League campaign for The Tractor Boys and, at just 22 years old, will hope to go from strength to strength in his career after joining the UEFA Conference League winners.
Such is the show of faith in his ability, the club has announced that the new signing has been assigned the No. 9 shirt for the coming season, possibly highlighting his importance to manager Enzo Maresca’s plans.
That said, this particular shirt is not exactly one that Chelsea fans hold much fondness for, with years of indifferent performances from its incumbent suggesting that the number might in fact be ‘cursed’.
We investigate, in the Premier League anyway, how successfully players have performed while wearing the shirt, be it due to any implied witchcraft or not…
Tony Cascarino (1993/94)
The 1993/94 season was the first season where players were given permanent squad numbers and Irish striker Cascarino was handed the No. 9.
A modest return of four goals in 20 games was the sum total of his efforts before leaving Stamford Bridge for Marseille.
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Mark Stein (1994/95 - 1995/96)
Signed from Stoke by new manager Glenn Hoddle in 1993, Stein posted an impressive total of 13 goals in his debut season, albeit wearing the No. 21.
Given the No. 9 after Cascarino’s departure, Stein managed eight league goals in 1994/95 but failed to find the target the following season and eventually lost his place in the team.
Gianluca Vialli (1996/97 - 1998/99)
By now, the Blues were beginning to attract a more high-profile type of signing and the late, great UEFA Champions League winner became an instant hit in west London.
In a successful three-year stint which also included a spell as player-manager, he scored 21 Premier League goals in 58 appearances.
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Chris Sutton (1999/2000)
Arguably the start of the ‘curse’. After Vialli’s retirement and transition to full-time management, one of his first signings was striker Sutton from Blackburn Rovers for a hefty £10m fee.
One year and one solitary goal later, the striker was sold to Celtic.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (2000/01 - 2003/04)
The Dutchman restored some much-needed pride to the shirt following his arrival from Atletico Madrid, forming a formidable partnership with Eidur Gudjohnsen.
He racked up 69 goals in 136 Premier League outings for The Blues before being sold to Middlesbrough amidst new owner Roman Abramovich’s continued transformation of the club.
Mateja Kezman (2004/05)
Part of the transformation involved the signing of Kezman in the hopes of recreating the fruitful partnership formed with Arjen Robben at PSV Eindhoven.
But while the Dutch winger thrived, Kezman toiled and only managed four goals before being sold to Atletico Madrid.
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Hernan Crespo (2005/06)
The Argentinian scored 10 goals in his debut season for Chelsea in the No. 21 shirt in 2003/04 and matched that total in his sole season wearing No. 9, after returning from a loan spell at AC Milan, to help The Blues to the Premier League title.
Already battling with Didier Drogba for a starting spot, the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko saw him depart for good in 2006.
Khalid Boulahrouz (2006/07)
A bizarre one now. The Dutch defender reportedly chose one of the few numbers available following his 2006 arrival and Crespo’s exit, but that doesn’t make it any less egregious.
Unable to stamp his place in the team ahead of the likes of John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, Boulahrouz left the club after a year, allowing the shirt to go back to a striker, right?
Steve Sidwell (2007/08)
Wrong! The midfielder, signed from Reading was given the shirt by Mourinho in what the player initially thought was a joke, but allegedly a not-so-subtle hint by the wily Portuguese manager directed to the Chelsea hierarchy about needing to sign a striker.
Sidwell, for his part, did not find the back of the net in his 15 league appearances for the club.
Franco Di Santo (2008/09 - 2009/10)
Reserve team striker Di Santo was the next recipient of the shirt after impressing in pre-season but made little impact in the eight Premier League games he featured in before a loan to Blackburn Rovers and eventual exit for Wigan Athletic in 2010.
Fernando Torres (2010/11 - 2014/15)
After years of tormenting The Blues in Liverpool red, Chelsea paid a then-Premier League record £50m to bring him to west London in the January 2011 transfer window.
However, he would score just one league goal – the first for a Chelsea No. 9 for five years – in 14 league appearances that season had many questioning that fee.
While there were some valuable goals in Europe over the course of his Chelsea career, just 20 goals in 110 league games was hardly an impressive return.
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Fernando Torres
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Radamel Falcao (2015/16)
‘El Tigre’ had already left less than a great impression with Manchester United the previous season so the decision by Chelsea to loan the Colombian seemed an odd one.
Struggling with injuries, Falcao scored just once in 10 league games at the club.
Alvaro Morata (2017/18)
A blistering start saw Morata score six goals in his first six league matches but only managed five more over the rest of the season to finish on 11.
Switching to the No. 29 the following season, he scored just five more times in blue before leaving the club for Atletico Madrid first on loan, then on a permanent deal.
Gonzalo Higuain (2018/19)
Past his best during a largely forgettable loan spell, the Argentinian did manage five league goals in 14 games, albeit against sides in the bottom half of the table, including two teams (Fulham and Huddersfield Town) who ultimately went down.
Tammy Abraham (2019/20 - 2021/22)
Cobham graduate Abraham scored 15 goals in his first season wearing the No. 9, the most of any striker in the shirt since Hasselbaink’s 23 in 2001/02.
He only added a further six the following campaign before moving to Roma at the start of the 2021/22 season.
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Romelu Lukaku (2021/22)
The Belgian’s return to Stamford Bridge was greeted with much fanfare and a debut goal against Arsenal looked to set the tone for a fruitful spell in blue.
However, despite a goal in the FIFA Club World Cup final, just eight Premier League strikes saw him return to former club Inter Milan on loan the following season.
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang (2022/23)
A Premier League Golden Boot winner with Arsenal, the Gabonese striker could not replicate his Gunners form with Chelsea, scoring just once in 15 league appearances before leaving for Marseille.
Goals scored by Chelsea players wearing the No. 9 shirt (Premier League only)
| Player (Seasons in No. 9) | Games | Goals |
| Tony Cascarino (1993/94)* | 20 | 4 |
| Mark Stein (1994/95 – 1995/96)** | 24 | 8 |
| Gianluca Vialli (1996/97 - 1998/99) | 58 | 21 |
| Chris Sutton (1999/2000) | 28 | 1 |
| Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (2000/01 - 2003/04) | 136 | 69 |
| Mateja Kezman (2004/05) | 25 | 4 |
| Hernan Crespo (2005/06)*** | 30 | 10 |
| Franco Di Santo (2008/09 - 2009/10) | 8 | 0 |
| Fernando Torres (2010/11 - 2014/15) | 110 | 20 |
| Radamal Falcao (2015/16) | 10 | 1 |
| Alvaro Morata (2017/18)**** | 31 | 11 |
| Gonzalo Higuain (2018/19) | 14 | 5 |
| Tammy Abraham (2019/20 - 2021/22) | 58 | 21 |
| Romelu Lukaku (2021/22)***** | 26 | 8 |
| Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang (2022/23) | 15 | 1 |
*Cascarino scored two further goals in nine games in 1992/93 before assigned squad numbers
**Stein scored 13 in 26 matches while wearing No. 21 in 1993/94
***Crespo scored 10 in 19 games while wearing No. 21 in 2003/04
****Morata scored five goals in 16 games wearing No. 29 in 2018/19
*****Lukaku was assigned No. 18 in his first spell at the club from 2011 to 2014 and failed to score in 10 appearances.
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