Alvaro Morata says Chelsea stars begged him not to take ‘cursed’ No9 shirt
The Blues big money summer signing says he turned a deaf ear when his teammates pleaded with him to not inherit the shirt
ALVARO MORATA claims he ignored his teammates after they begged him not to take the "cursed" No.9 shirt.
The £20million summer signing turned a deaf ear when other Chelsea players pleaded with him to inherit another number at Stamford Bridge.
The No.9's to come before him including Mateja Kezman, Khalid Boulahrouz, Steve Sidwell, Franco Di Santo, Fernando Torres failed to live up to the leading man role.
The number remained vacant after Radamel Falcao found the back of the net just once in 10 Premier League appearances during his time on loan from Monaco during the 2015-16 season.
But that didn't faze Morata who said: “That was one of the first things I was told after turning up here.
"Even the lads were begging me not to take that shirt because it was cursed, but I wanted it."
The 25-year-old hitman arrived at Stamford Bridge in a big-money move after playing second fiddle at Real Madrid.
Chelsea were in need of striking inspiration after the decision to part ways with Diego Costa and Morata was brought in to fill that leading role in front of the goal.
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The Spaniard believes he can reverse the curse and return the number to its former glory - to the days it graced the back of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink when he blasted 70 goals for the Blues in 136 league games.
Morata added: “I’ve done a couple of little things to avoid the bad luck that the shirt supposedly brings.
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“Can I tell you what I’ve done? No chance. If I did that, the curse will come back!”
After an electric start to the season, it appears the not-superstitious Morata had indeed broken the spell - scoring seven times in seven appearances, including a hat-trick against Stoke.
The former Juventus and Real Madrid striker has since been slowed down with a hamstring injury and he hasn't found the back of the net since.
Morata will face his former Los Blancos boss Jose Mourinho tomorrow in the crunch clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Red Devils were in hot pursuit of the Spain international in the summer but instead handed their own No.9 jersey to Romelu Lukaku.
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