Can Tammy Abraham break Chelsea’s number nine curse?

Not many would have expected Chelsea’s new number nine Tammy Abraham would turn things around in his favour. Especially after that penalty miss against Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup final.

Tammy’s going through an impressive run of form after back-to-back braces against Norwich city last week and Sheffield United this game week in the Premier League

How bad Chelsea’s number nine hoodoo?

To be honest, Chelsea’s number nine shirt did have its own glory when club legend Peter Osgood wore it during the late 1960s. Osgood went on to make more than 270 appearances for Chelsea and scoring 105 goals over the span of 10 years.

Consequently, the turn of the 21st century saw Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink wearing the number nine shirt and have fortunes similar to Osgood. His four years (2000-04) at Chelsea saw him scoring 70 goals from 136 appearances. The Dutchman was Claudio Ranieri’s main man in the attack at Chelsea.

Hernan Crespo, who arrived at the Stamford Bridge on August 2003, wore the number nine shirt. Despite staying at the club for five long years, Crespo went on to make just 49 appearances, scoring 20 goals. Eventually, Chelsea released him from the squad on July 2008 after his contract expiration.

Chelsea’s number nine shirt became the talk of the town when Fernando Torres joined Chelsea at a record fee of £50m from Liverpool 2011. Nothing, however, could stop the curse from extending as Torres could score only 20 goals in 110 appearances for Chelsea. 

Alvaro Morata had the similar misfortunes like his compatriot as he could score only score 20 goals in 47 appearances following a move from Real Madrid in 2017.

I don’t think that Chelsea’s number nine curse is as bad as the English media or some others are portraying. It’s nothing but mixed fortunes related with this shirt. Moreover, if you take a look at those who failed in Chelsea’s number nine shirt, most of them come along with the “price tag pressure” related to a big money move.

What’s the advantage for Tammy?

Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton says it pretty clearly, “When you have a big fee, you’re expected to have a good goal return. Tammy Abraham doesn’t have that expectation on him as he was nurtured and developed in Chelsea’s academy. There will still be expectations on him, yes, but not similar to the ones on big money signings”

We can only find out whether Tammy Abraham is capable enough of breaking the so-called Chelsea’s number nine curse as the season progresses. One cannot deny the fact that Tammy Abraham is showing positive signs of emulating good fortunes with Chelsea’s number nine shirt.

Cover image credits: Goal.com.