Skip to main content

Tammy Abraham has claimed he is more than ready to wear the number nine shirt at Chelsea, despite the shirt becoming somewhat of a poisoned chalice at Stamford Bridge in recent years. 

Abraham donned the nine shirt in the pre-season victory over Barcelona, scoring the opening goal with a cool two-touch finish past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. After the game he revealed that he feels 'ready' to take the number.

As quoted by the Daily Mail, he explained: "I'm honoured to wear the No 9 at Chelsea. I spoke to the manager and he asked me if I was ready to take it. I said 'Yeah, I'm ready'.

fbl-jpn-eng-pr-esp-liga-chelsea-barcelona-5d382034b75ba5f237000001.jpg

"I'm glad he offered it to me. I've heard all the rubbish about the No 9, but I'm here to play my game and do my best."

That 'rubbish' revolves around the misbegotten players who have worn it in the past, including Khalid Boulahrouz, Franco Di Santo, Radamel Falcao, Steve Sidwell and more recently Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata.

The striker continued: "Football brings a lot of pressure. It drives me on. It gives me the extra belief. It was my first goal in a Chelsea shirt and now that's out of the way it will be nice to push on and score some more."

And, speaking on the forward, new boss Frank Lampard said: "Tammy is hungry for goals. I like his attitude. He always wants to score. I saw it in the Championship last year. He's proved that and now it is his time to prove it for Chelsea.

"Goalscorers need confidence, so to get his goal will put him in good stead. It's vital for them to show they can be the lead striker for Chelsea. I have full confidence in them."