Arsenal have a new No 9 after Alexandre Lacazette's arrival from Lyon, but can the Frenchman succeed wearing the shirt number in which others have failed?

Following the 26-year-old's arrival on a club-record £52m fee, the striker, who is set to make his debut in the club's pre-season firendly against Sydney FC on Thursday, has been handed the No 9 shirt which was worn by Lucas Perez last season.

With Perez seemingly on his way out of the Emirates Stadium, the Spaniard becomes is the latest in a long line of players, who have struggled to hit the heights expected of them wearing the number nine on their back.



Alan Smith, Paul Merson and Nicolas Anelka all had success in the shirt early on in the Premier League era but since Anleka's departure to Real Madrid in 1999, the "curse" of the Arsenal No 9 shirt has struck.

Here's a list of the players who have struggled as Arsenal's No 9...

Davor Suker
Francis Jeffers
Jose Antonio Reyes
Julio Baptista
Eduardo da Silva
Park Chu-young
Lukas Podolski
Lucas Perez

Alexandre Lacazette


Source

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15118/10945661/francis-jeffers-julio-baptista-and-lucas-perez-the-curse-of-arsenals-no-9-shirt

And...

humm

really...