Like it or not, there was pressure on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang when he arrived at Chelsea on deadline day. There was an expectation on Aubameyang to provide the goods for a team who had desperately lacked a goalscorer in previous seasons.
It was even more of a 'gulp' moment when the former Barcelona striker was handed the 'cursed' number nine shirt upon his arrival. The likes of Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuaín and Radamel Falcao have worn that shirt for the Blues in previous years and, in short, flopped.
The early signs are that Aubameyang isn't going to fall foul to the so-called number nine curse. The 33-year-old has scored three goals in his first five Chelsea appearances, with Graham Potter getting the best out of him so far, even though he was a Thomas Tuchel recruit.
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Former Blues goalkeeper Rob Green believes Aubameyang can be Potter's Diego Costa. He says the ex-Arsenal forward can become the first Chelsea player since Costa in the 2015/16 season to score 20 goals in a campaign.
"He's a quality finisher," Green told Football Daily.
"We've seen that with his instinctive, wonderful finish against [Crystal] Palace, the tap in off the Reece James ball last week against AC Milan, and then this time against Milan, onto a loose ball that Raheem Sterling couldn't quite control and he slams it home. As confident as you like.
"What Chelsea have missed over the last few seasons - and perhaps a bit longer - is a centre-forward, a proper number nine who scores goals. Ever since Diego Costa left, [they haven't had] that player who's going to bang in 20 goals a season.
"You know what, the way he's going, if he stays on this sort of form he could meet those numbers."
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