Athletistic/Football. Most often associated with the team’s best striker, numbers have been a blight at Stamford Bridge in recent years.

So many of the greatest strikers in world football have worn the number 9 shirt for club and country, from Alan Shearer to Ronaldo, from Gabriel Batistuta to Robert Lewandowski.

However, Chelsea’s number 9 seems like a curse lately.

Mateja Kezman (2004-05)

The 2004/05 season was historic for Chelsea fans as the club won the Premier League title under Jose Mourinho through several stellar transfers.

However, for every Frank Lampard, there was a Kezman. The Serb arrived in good standing from his PSV days but only scored four goals in 25 games and was sold to Atlético Madrid at the end of the season.

Hernan Crespo (2005-06)

The Argentine veteran took over the vacant seat at number 9 after Kežman’s retirement.

Crespo scored 13 goals in all competitions, but he and his family never settled in England, meaning Blues fans never saw him in his prime.

Khalid Bularuz (2006–2007)

Without a doubt, Chelsea’s most bizarre and forgotten number 9 player has been this Dutch centre-back. Yes, the centre-back wore a centre-forward shirt.

Bularuz was signed from Hamburger SV in the summer of 2006 and, following Crespo’s departure, landed one of the few first-team numbers available.

Injuries and a loss of form meant he rarely had a chance to hit the No.9 on the field of play and was traded after one season.

Steve Sidwell (2007-08)

The central midfielder came from Reading on a free transfer after an impressive season, but Chelsea were too big a step forward.

He made 25 appearances that season before being sold, continuing another No.9 trend at Chelsea with players playing just one season for the club.

Franco de Saint (2008-09)

The best thing to say about the year Di Santo was Chelsea’s No.9 is that at least that number is back with a striker.

The young Argentinian was never experienced or talented enough to lift the curse. He also limited himself to one season, when he was loaned out to Blackburn, before moving permanently to Wigan.

He made eight Premier League appearances and scored no goals for Chelsea.

Fernando Torres (2011-14)

From Di Santo’s departure until January 2011, Chelsea didn’t have a No.9 player, but the man who took him on next needed to break the curse once and for all.

Torres came from Liverpool in a then-record £50million move, but his move is now considered one of the biggest flops in Premier League history.

The goal that took Chelsea to the 2012 Champions League final is outweighed by their 903 minutes without a goal since the move, or their horrific miss against Manchester United in September 2011.

Radamel Falcao (2015-16)

In 2014-15 the team were again short of a No.9 and then Chelsea signed Falcao, despite looking weak on loan at Manchester United the previous season.

The Colombian failed to change his Premier League fortunes at Stamford Bridge, scoring just one goal in 10 appearances.

In the summer of 2016, the 29-year-old was fired and returned to Monaco.

Alvaro Morata (2017-18)

Chelsea were again without a number 9 in 2016/17 before trying to solve their problems with the forwards by signing another strong player.

However, Morata, who was worth £70m and signed a five-year deal, never impressed Chelsea and was cleared for loan after just 18 months.

He returned for the 2019-20 season but then wore number 29 in an attempt to escape the cursed shirt.

Gonzalo Higuain (2019)

A Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus star, as well as a World Cup finalist for Argentina, Higuain is still one of Chelsea’s weakest players at number 9.

He spent six months on loan at Chelsea from January 2019 after Morata was cleared to leave, but never adapted to the pace of the Premier League as he was often out of form.

Five goals in 18 matches was a disappointing result and he returned to Italy at the end of the season.

Tammy Abraham (2019-21)

After impressing at Aston Villa on loan – and with Chelsea under a transfer embargo – new manager Frank Lampard has put faith in academy-born Abraham.

The Englishman impressed Lampard by scoring 18 goals in 47 games as Chelsea qualified for the Champions League.

However, the following season Abraham lost his form – only 12 goals per season. This was helped by an ankle injury and the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as manager.

Abraham was sold to Roma in the summer of 2021 and has made quite an impression in Serie A. As for Chelsea’s No.9, he has been one of the best of recent years.

Romelu Lukaku (2021-22)

Abraham was largely sold due to the return of Lukaku, who for £97.5million was a club record signing and was seen as a huge statement by the reigning Champions League winners.

Eight goals in 26 Premier League games, injuries, lack of form, lack of interest, misguided media interviews – it’s all about Lukaku’s return to England.

Now he’s going on loan at Inter and we’ll wait to see which player gets No.9 next.

Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic