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Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world, with their status having improved drastically since their takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovic about 15 years ago.
Abramovic has invested heavily in the West London club, turning their fortunes around from Premier League also-rans into genuine title contenders, with the club having won all there is to win in the timeframe that Abramovic has been in charge.
Numerous world class players have arrived Stamford Bridge and while some of them have gone on to achieve legendary status at the club, others have faltered, with the striking position particularly proving to have more players in the latter category.
Far too many strikers of incredible quality have struggled to reach their normal level at Chelsea, with particular concern for those who have donned the number 9 jersey.
The number 9 jersey is traditionally assigned to the centre forward in any team and some of the greatest strikers throughout history have donned the jersey number from Ronaldo De Lima and Alan Shearer in years gone by to Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski in more recent years.
At Chelsea however, the reverse seems to be the case, as majority of their strikers who have worn the jersey number nine have flattered to deceive (although Andriy Shevchenko also struggled in the number 7 jersey), with Alvaro Morata being the latest to follow that worrying trend, while fans of The Blues would hope Gonzalo Higuain can break that negative streak.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at five high profile players who donned the number 9 jersey at Chelsea but failed to match expectations.
Honourable mentions - Franco di Santo, Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizzarro
#5 Mateja Kezman - £5m (2004 - 2005)
Having banged in goals for fun in the Dutch league with PSV Eindhoven (129 in 176 matches in all competitions), where he ed the nickname 'Batman', many saw it as a bargain deal when Chelsea signed him for just £5m in the summer of Jose Mourinho's first spell in charge.
The former Serbian international, however, failed to impress, scoring just seven goals from 41 matches in all competitions as Chelsea ran away with the title.
As expected, Kezman departed Stamford Bridge for Atletico Madrid after just one season and his flop marked the beginning of Eredivisie top scorers struggling in the Premier League, with Memphis Depay, Vincent Janssen and Wilfred Bony struggling to make a mark in the PL (although Luis Suarez is a notable exception).
#4 Hernan Crespo - £16.8m (2003-2008)
Undoubtedly one of the best strikers in the world during his heydey, Hernan Crespo was a goalscorer of the highest level, playing for some of the biggest clubs in the world, in addition to once being the most expensive player in history.
The former Argentine international arrived Chelsea in the summer of 2003 and spent the next five seasons mostly on loan (only spending two full seasons in the colours of Chelsea).
His standout performance came at AC Milan in the 2004/2005 season (when he scored a brace in the UCL final of their ultimately futile clash with Liverpool).
Throughout his five year contract with Chelsea, Crespo only spent the 2003/2004 and 2005/2006 season as a member of the Chelsea squad, making a total of 73 appearances in all competitions, scoring 25 goals, which is a far cry from the numbers he posted at other clubs.
#3 Falcao - Loan (2015/2016)
Radamel Falcao was an absolute beast for Porto and Atletico Madrid, establishing his status as one of the best strikers in the world, leading to a mega-money move to AS Monaco in 2013.
Financial issues at the principality club led him to take a loan move to Manchester United, with the Premier League club offsetting some of his tremendously high wages.
Falcao turned out to be a very expensive flop at Old Trafford, as his spell at United which lasted just one season provided just four goals from 29 appearances, while he was also demoted to the Under 21's at some point due to his struggles.
His struggles at United did not deter Chelsea from going after his signature, announcing his arrival on a year-long loan ahead of the 2015/2016 season in which he was once again handed the number nine shirt.
His spell at Chelsea was arguably worse, as injury problems, coupled with a poor run of form saw Falcao fail to justify his high earnings once more.
He finished his spell at Chelsea with just one goal from 12 matches in all competitions and it goes without saying that the club failed to exercise its buyback clause, sending him back to Monaco with whom he has somewhat reestablished his reputation, captaining the side to an unexpected Ligue 1 triumph in 2017.
#2 Alvaro Morata - £70m (2017 - 2019)
Chelsea's most expensive player of all time - It all started so well for the former Real Madrid man, with him getting a goal and an assist on his Premier League debut for the club as well as a hat-trick within one month of being a Chelsea player.
However, it all began to go downhill from there as Alvaro Morata struggled for form in front of goal, enduring multiple goal droughts, with Chelsea seeking a replacement for him (in the form of Olivier Giroud) barely six months after his £70m arrival.
The player had departed Real Madrid over a lack of playing time, but despite being granted numerous opportunities as a starter for Chelsea, he failed to take his chances and soon found himself out of the first-team picture.
The arrival of Maurizio Sarri in the dugout for Chelsea did little to improve Morata's fortunes, with the Italian manager publicly questioning Morata's mentality and the height of his distrust in the Spaniard being manifested in his preference of Hazard in the false nine role than starting Morata.
The 26-year-old faced numerous justified criticism for his non-physicality to the English game, as well as his profligacy in front of goal and his one and half year stay at Chelsea yielded just 24 goals from 72 matches in all competitions.
Contrary to popular opinions, Morata has never been a prolific scorer (even at Juventus) where he scored just 15 goals in 63 Serie A matches across two seasons (despite playing mostly as a starter).
He has seemingly ended his Chelsea misery with a loan to Atletico Madrid and how that pans out for him is yet to be seen.
#1 Fernando Torres £50m (2011 - 2015)
There was really only one player who could top this list and he came in the form of a £50m (then British record transfer record) on transfer deadline day in January of 2011.
How Fernando Torres quite went from spectacular world class striker at Liverpool to being the subject of bants and online memes at Chelsea remains quite a mystery, as for the entirety of his stay at Chelsea he failed to justify the hype and optimism which greeted his arrival.
The Hollywood looking Torres was a prime goalscorer at Liverpool, which saw him secure a podium finish at the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards as well as make it into consecutive PFA and FIFPro XI's in 2008 and 2009.
He ended his Liverpool career with 81 goals from 142 appearances and many Chelsea fans expected that he would bring this kind of form to Stamford Bridge with him.
It all went horribly off-script for Torres however, as it took him nine games to break his duck for Chelsea and that was the sign of things to come as he endured numerous other goalscoring droughts for the entirety of his Chelsea spell.
Torres struggled for form horribly in front of goal, missing gilt-edged chances and showing signs of lack of confidence which was a far cry from the super confident Torres at Chelsea.
His time at Chelsea was disastrous, with him scoring just 45 goals from 172 matches in all competitions and while there were high points (such as his goal against Barcelona in the 2012 UCL as well as the first goal in the Europa League final of 2013), he left London with an overwhelming feeling of underachievement.
