Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel on Friday said the No. 9 shirt had not been left available ahead of a potential signing, but because it was thought to be cursed after several players who wore it did not leave a mark at the London club.
Lukaku was the last to wear the shirt after returning to Chelsea for a club-record fee of £97.5 (US$117.7 million), but after one lackluster season he rejoined Serie A side Inter, with whom he won the 2020-2021 scudetto.
Several forwards who wore the No. 9 shirt, including Hernan Crespo, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata, failed to leave a mark at Chelsea despite their stellar track record.
“People tell me it’s cursed... It’s not the case that we leave it open for tactical reasons,” Tuchel told reporters.
“Surprisingly, nobody wants to touch it. 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,’” he said.
“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,” Tuchel added.
Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been linked with a move to Chelsea and the No. 9 shirt in the close season, although Tuchel remained vague about another signing before the end of the transfer window.
“Maybe we bring one more player, maybe not... We have options but at the same time, we know how many games are coming. So let’s see if we can still maybe sign a player,” he said.
Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became an overnight celebrity on Chinese social media after Singapore’s 3-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday. China would have been eliminated if Thailand had won by three goals. Sunny made enough saves to prevent that from happening. Chinese fans have been lining up and buying out all the food at the stand
China squeezed into the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite a 1-0 defeat at South Korea on Tuesday, with Indonesia also progressing on a night of drama. Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in scored just after the hour in Seoul for South Korea, who were already into the next qualifying phase as group winners. The damaging loss left China’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, but Thailand failed to take advantage as their dreams of progressing fell agonizingly short. They needed to beat basement side Singapore by three goals in Bangkok to leapfrog China into second place in
GOLDEN BOY: With Italy’s president watching, Tamberi was given a standing ovation when he walked onto the track, and he did not disappoint, jumping a record 2.37m Norway’s Karsten Warholm on Tuesday fired out a broadside at Olympic contenders in the run-in to the Paris Games by winning a third successive European Athletics Championships title in Rome as a galaxy of global stars showcased some scintillating form. Warholm, the Olympic champion and a three-time world gold medalist, timed 46.98 seconds for the victory. “I felt strong and I was in control,” Warholm said. “Now it’s back to training and keep on pushing.” “This is a good step on the road, but this is more to build confidence and get the gold medal. In Paris I’ll try to be as sharp
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