If reports in the Echo are to be believed, Christian Benteke is set to become Liverpool’s new no.9.
And while the squad number comes with much historic responsibility, you’ll see that in the Premier League era, it’s been as much of a curse as it has anything else.
Let’s hope Benteke emulates the Robbie Fowlers of this world rather than the El Hadji Dioufs.
Here’s how we’ve ranked Liverpool’s nine Premier League no.9s to date.
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Christian Benteke’s Liverpool squad number announced
9) El Hadji Diouf
We signed Diouf for big money (at the time) in 2002 after he shone at the World Cup, but my, how we wished we hadn’t. The controversial and arrogant Senegalese bagged a brace on his Anfield debut versus Southampton. He’d go on to score just one more in the league, and then committed his most horrible crime – spitting in the face of a young Celtic fan during a European clash. Jamie Carragher famously once said, ‘He was always the last to get picked in training (via Daily Star),’ which for us, is totally fair enough. Diouf might have scored (slightly) more goals than players ahead of him in this list, but because of the shame he brought upon the club – we’re sticking him last.
8) Iago Aspas
Ability wise, the worst no.9 in Liverpool’s history. The Spaniard was dreadful whenever selected in the 2013/14 season, and famously took the worst corner ever seen at Anfield – when we desperately needed to equalise against Chelsea during our title charge. It pains us to even think about it, actually. He was naturally shipped back to Spain at the nearest possible opportunity.
7) Andy Carroll
Still our most expensive ever signing at £35m, Carroll wasn’t, isn’t and will never be worth that kind of money – which is not his fault – but it makes him one of our biggest transfer blunders in history. The powerhouse didn’t have the technical ability or pace to suit Brendan Rodgers’ style of play, and after six goals in two and a half seasons, we did superbly to get £15m from West Ham for him.
