by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been backed to break the number nine curse at Chelsea, which has seen Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata hit, by Joe Cole.
The Blues have been very successful over the years but one thing remains elusive, a player who wears the number nine shirt and has success.
Romelu Lukaku signed in August 2021 for around £100m and has been handed the number on his long-awaited return to Stamford Bridge after the club failed to re-sign him in 2017.
However, Aubameyang signed at the end of the summer transfer window and took the number, giving him the chance to add his name to the list of flops, which also includes Morata, Fernando Torres, Hernan Crespo and several others.
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible, former Chelsea star Cole revealed that he believes now Aubameyang is up and running with a goal, the former Barcelona star could be the one to break the curse.
“It’s unfortunate, isn’t it? Cole said about the curse.
“I mean, you know, we were some big players bought for a lot of money and we didn’t make it.
“I think he is an excellent footballer, he is a proven scorer. I think he will benefit from working with the young athletic players around him.
“He went and did it at Barcelona in a short period of time, scored goals there.
“He’s off limits at Chelsea.
“He should have a good couple of weeks before the World Cup. And then we’ll see and then we’ll see where we are after that, but the pressure is on, put that shirt on and you have to score and I think he can do that.”
On why things didn’t work out for the previous players, the former England star added: “It’s a case of it being like, maybe the right players at the wrong time, you know what I mean.
“You had great players, like Torres and Shevchenko [who didn’t wear number nine but was another high profile, high cost, striker for the Blues who failed].
“It was always difficult to replace Drogba beforehand, in the minds of the fans, so it becomes a problem.
“Listen, you don’t think like a player. Go and do your job and try to do the best you can and then let everybody else do it.
“He doesn’t think about that, you don’t pull that shirt on at the weekend, ‘oh, put the number nine on.’
“He’ll just go and do his job, and if you give him a chance Aubameyang will bury it. That’s been proven, so I have faith in him.”
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