Chelsea players are petrified of wearing shirt number that is ‘cursed’

Thomas Tuchel has revealed none of his Chelsea players want to take the No 9 shirt due to the increasingly infamous curse surrounding it.

Every player to have worn the shirt dating back to 2006 has had bad luck in one way or another. The likes of Fernando Torres, Falcao, Alvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuain have all struggled, while centre-back Khalid Boulahrouz and midfielder Steve Sidwell were doomed before they got going.

Tammy Abraham enjoyed success at Stamford Bridge but was forced out by the arrival of Romelu Lukaku, who proved the curse is alive and kicking last season. His loan exit has left the shirt vacant – with no one looking to change that anytime soon.

READ MORE:Eight infamous football curses – from Chelsea's No 9 shirt to Aaron Ramsey's freak streak

"It’s cursed, it’s cursed, people tell me it’s cursed," Tuchel said. "It’s not the case that we leave it open for tactical reasons, for some players in the pipeline that come in and naturally take it.

"There was not a big demand for number nine when players sometimes want to change numbers. Surprisingly, nobody wants to touch it."

Summer signings Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella have steered clear, but none suit the number. Attackers Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja haven't opted for it, though.

Who has been Chelsea's best No 9? Let us know in the comments section.

Tuchel continued: "Everybody who is here longer than me tells me, 'ah, you know, he had the nine and he did not score and he had the nine and did also not score'.

"So we now we have a moment where nobody wants to touch the number nine. I’m also superstitious, I can understand why players maybe don’t touch it and have other preferences."

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