Why no Chelsea player got the shirt no.9

Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has opened up on why “nobody wants to touch” the club’s No. 9 shirt.

According to Tuchel shirt no.9, which has been vacant since Romelu Lukaku left for Inter Milan on a one-year deal may be cursed.

Lukaku’s departure has seen Chelsea join the race for a new striker, with the reports linking them with Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and RB Salzburg’s Benjamin Sesko.

Aside from Lukaku, another player who have worn the shirt No. 9 at Stamford Bridge include, Tammy Abraham who struggled with injuries and form before joining AS Roma.

Others are Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao and Fernando Torres all of who struggled to meet expectations.

When asked why no player in the squad had taken the number, Tuchel said: “It’s cursed! People tell me it’s cursed! It’s not the case that we leave it open for tactical reasons or for some players in the pipeline to come in and naturally take it.

“There was not a big demand for the number nine. Players sometimes want to change numbers but surprisingly nobody wants to touch it.

“Like, everybody who is longer than me in the club, tells me ‘you know he had the nine and didn’t score and he had the nine and he also did not score.’ Now we have a moment, nobody wants to touch the number nine.”