Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has begun his journey with Chelsea in the English Premier League with a goal under new manager Graham Potter as he looks to break club’s jersey number 9 ‘curse’.
Aubameyang who became the 17th player to were Chelsea’s No.9 shirt since squad numbers were introduced to the Premier League in 1993 scored his first goal for Chelsea on Saturday against Crystal Palace.
Majority of his 16 predecessors have been unsuccessful at the club which caused many to label the jersey No.9 ‘cursed’.
It was labelled ‘cursed’ with players that donned it tending to struggle at the club and most recently, Romelu Lukaku who only managed to score 8 goals in 26 Premier League games.
No Chelsea player opted to take the No.9 shirt for Chelsea in the 2022-23 season before Aubameyang’s arrival from Barcelona in a deadline day transfer.
The former Arsenal captain has since kicked off his campaign with the Blues on high having scored on his Premier League debut for the club who came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 1-2.
Palace took an early lead with only 7 minutes played through French striker Odsonne Eduardo before Aubameyang cancelled it in the 38th minute with Conor Gallagher scoring the winner in the 90th to claim first victory for the Potter coached side.
Aubamenyang has now made three appearances for Chelsea, two in the Champions League where he registered an assist with the other on being in the Premier League on Saturday.