Liam Delap has taken the No.9 jersey at Chelsea, with that shirt supposedly cursed by the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Fernando Torres.
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Frontman joined Blues from IpswichWants to win silverware in west LondonPredecessors struggled in No.9 shirtFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
England U21 international Delap has completed a £30 million ($41m) transfer to Stamford Bridge after the release clause in his contract at Ipswich was triggered. He has been offered an immediate return to the Premier League on the back of suffering relegation in 2024-25.
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Delap spent just one season at Portman Road, but hit 12 top-flight goals for a team that failed to avoid tumbling back into the Championship. At 22 years of age, he is considered to still have plenty of potential in his game that is waiting to be unlocked.
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Chelsea are hoping to be the ones to benefit from that, as they look to find a regular goalscorer to lead their line, but have handed a squad number to Delap that boasts a rather chequered past.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the last man to don No.9 for Chelsea – with the ex-Arsenal star registering just one Premier League goal – while the likes of Lukaku, Morata, Torres, Gonzalo Higuain, Radamel Falcao and Mateja Kezman have all struggled to deliver in the same shirt. It has also, somewhat surprisingly, been filled by Steve Sidwell and Khalid Boulahrouz in west London.
