So many of the greatest strikers in world football have worn the No.9 shirt for club and country - from Alan Shearer to Ronaldo, Gabriel Batistuta to Robert Lewandowski.
At Chelsea, however, the No.9 seems to carry more weight than most. Players throughout the Premier League era at Stamford Bridge having struggled while wearing the iconic number, with former manager Thomas Tuchel even going as far to agree with the assertion that "it's cursed".
Liam Delap, then, is a brave man after the new £30 million ($41m) signing chose the No.9 jersey for his first season in west London after arriving from Ipswich Town. He will become the first player since the 2022-23 season to don the jersey, so can the England Under-21 international be the man to break the curse?
So which players have worn the shirt and how bad has it really been? GOAL runs down those who have worn the infamous jersey in recent times...
