João Pedro Takes Chelsea's Haunted No.9 Shirt

Chelsea have nailed down their squad numbers for the new season, and amid the usual shuffle, one decision screams louder than the rest.

João Pedro has taken the No.9.

Yes, that No.9.

João Pedro walks into the storm

At most clubs, the No.9 is a prize. At Chelsea, it has become a warning label.

Fernando Torres wore it. Álvaro Morata wore it. Romelu Lukaku, Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuaín, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Big reputations, big expectations, and a long trail of seasons that never quite lived up to the billing.

Go back further and the list gets even grimmer: Mateja Kežman, Franco Di Santo, Tony Cascarino, Chris Sutton. Talented players who arrived with hope and left with a shrug.

Even those who escaped complete disaster never really bent the number to their will. Hernán Crespo produced moments, but never the dominant campaign his talent promised. Tammy Abraham came closest to breaking the spell, hitting 15 league goals in 2019-20, the best return for a Chelsea No.9 since the early 2000s. Still, it felt like a good season rather than an era-defining one.

Liam Delap’s brief and bruising spell with the shirt only deepened the sense that this number carries baggage at Stamford Bridge. He has moved it on. João Pedro has picked it up.

Why JP? Why now? He knows the history. Everyone does. Maybe that is the point. Some forwards run from the weight of a shirt. Others go looking for it.

The shadow of Hasselbaink

To understand the scale of the task, you have to go back to Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink.

In 2001-02, Hasselbaink smashed 23 league goals and 29 in all competitions wearing that same No.9. Since then, no one in that shirt has come close to matching that kind of dominance.

The raw numbers tell the story. Torres did manage 22 goals in all competitions in 2012-13, but it took him 64 appearances and a long Europa League run to get there. Only 8 of those came in the Premier League. It never felt like peak No.9 form, more a grind to respectability.

For more than two decades, Chelsea’s centre-forward jersey has been a revolving door. João Pedro now steps into a role that has chewed up and spat out some of the biggest names of the modern era. He is either about to rewrite the narrative or become another entry in a very long, very strange list.

Fofana, Chavarría and a quieter reshuffle

Away from the drama of the No.9, there are other notable changes on the squad list.

Wesley Fofana has moved into Marc Cucurella’s old No.3 shirt, a number that traditionally belongs to a defender and feels like a more natural fit for the Frenchman. His previous No.29 will not stay vacant for long: new signing Pep Chavarría has taken it as he settles into life at Stamford Bridge.

Dário Essugo and Tosin Adarabioyo have also been handed fresh numbers, small but significant markers of their place in the evolving squad.

The full list is set for now, but not carved in stone. The transfer window still has more than ten days to run, and Chelsea can only register 25 players. Spaces are precious. Numbers, too.

For João Pedro, though, the choice has already been made. He has walked straight into the most haunted shirt in the building. The season will tell us whether he has just poked a sleeping curse—or finally broken it.