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.
6) Rickie Lambert
Lambert’s in at no.6 by default really, as the three behind him did exceptionally poorly. But we loved the England international’s effort and commitment to the cause and the fact he’s worked his way up through the leagues to play for the club of his dreams. Last season, Lambert lived out every Liverpool fan’s dream in pulling on the red shirt.
5) Nicolas Anelka
We wished Anelka had stayed with us for longer, in truth – as the striker himself admitted (via Sky Sports) too. “It is a club I really loved. I would like to go back one day.” Anelka joined on loan from PSG for six months at the start of 2012, and bagged five goals in the process. He couldn’t dislodge Michael Owen and Emile Heskey from the starting spots though, and that summer, we opted for Diouf instead.
4) Djibril Cisse
A serious case of what could have been. Liverpool beat off competition from all over Europe to sign the young Auxerre forward, who at the time, was rated as one of the most promising strikers in world football. Tragically, two broken legs ruined his chances of reaching his potential. Cisse still scored his penalty in the Champions League final shootout in 2004/05 though, and bagged in the FA Cup final victory one year later. He finished his Reds career with 26 goals in two seasons.
3) Ian Rush
Rush would undoubtedly be no.1 had we been considering everything he’d done throughout the 1980s, but this list only takes the Premier League era into account. Our record ever goalscorer notched 45 goals in the top flight from the competition’s inception in 1992/93 until he left to join Leeds in 1996/97.
2) Fernando Torres
‘El Nino’ has largely been forgiven for leaving Liverpool to join Chelsea in 2011, as it’s now widely accepted that we enjoyed Torres’s best years and actually got the better of the £50m deal. During his first three seasons, Torres had a rightful claim to the title of ‘world’s best striker’. 81 goals in 142 games see him go down as one of our most dangerous every strikers, best remembered for his lethal partnership with a peak Steven Gerrard during the 2008/09 title pursuit.
1) Robbie Fowler
Our highest ever Premier League goalscorer, Fowler was the automatic choice for top spot in the list. Fowler’s instinctive finishing and wonderful attacking movement saw him score 120 Premier League goals during his first Liverpool spell, before adding another eight in a second after Rafa Benitez romantically brought him back to Anfield in 2006. We can only hope Christian Benteke can do even half as well in a Liverpool shirt as the man known on the Kop as ‘God’.
