Is Joao Pedro about to break Chelsea's so-called number nine curse?

Joao Pedro missed out on a place in Brazil's World Cup squad in the summer [Getty Images] Joao Pedro took just 31 seconds to make a statement about how he is handling the so-called curse of the number nine shirt at Chelsea. The Brazilian deftly lifted his shot over Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno to set his side on their way to a dramatic 3-2 win at Craven Cottage in manager Xabi Alonso's first game in charge on Monday. It was a memorable weekend for Joao Pedro personally, having been handed the coveted number nine shirt and improved financial terms on a new contract that will run until 2034. It might seem trite, but there is a sizeable group of Chelsea supporters who believe in the so-called curse. Not since Dutch striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left the club in 2004 have the club had a prolific striker in the number nine shirt. Didier Drogba wore number 11 during his successful spell at Stamford Bridge and Diego Costa had the number 19 shirt, but high-profile forwards including Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuain, Radamel Falcao and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggled while wearing number nine. All endured difficult and relatively short periods at the club. The last player to wear the shirt before Joao Pedro was Liam Delap, who is currently in talks with Nottingham Forest about leaving Stamford Bridge after scoring only one Premier League goal last season. Non-strikers, including midfielder Steve Sidwell and defender Khalid Boulahrouz, also wore the shirt, although some supporters would argue Tammy Abraham performed well as the number nine before his move to Roma. Asked about the curse after scoring against Fulham, while starring alongside both Cole Palmer and club-record £117m signing Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro told the Mirror: "I don't believe in that. I don't think numbers can decide this pressure." Last season, the 24-year-old matched his shirt number by scoring 20 goals in all competitions, becoming the first Chelsea striker since Diego Costa to reach that mark nine years earlier. It has left the Blues delighted with the £55m deal, plus up to £5m in add-ons, they agreed with Brighton to sign the forward last summer. Those close to Joao Pedro also believe his recent recognition is justified. In addition, his close-knit entourage have no concerns about his ability to handle the pressure of being Chelsea's leading man, having shared in his remarkable rise to the top. Three reasons Chelsea could challenge for title - and one they may not Building resilience & physical strength after struggles "If I gave him one thing, it is to fight for what you want all the time," his mother Flavia Junqueira explained to BBC Sport. Looking at Joao Pedro's story, that is exactly what he has had to do. His mother, along with his grandmother, have largely brought him up. Reports from Joao Pedro's early childhood show his father, former Botafogo footballer Jose Joao de Jesus - more commonly known as Chicao - spent around eight years in prison after being charged as an accessory to murder and was rarely around. Junqueira later separated from him and focused on her son's footballing potential. "Joao had a dream," she said. "I shared that dream with my son. The dream didn't have a price." Growing up in Ribeirao Preto, a nine-hour drive inland from Rio de Janeiro, Joao Pedro was eventually scouted by one of the city's clubs Fluminense, along with a host of other leading Brazilian clubs. Fluminense were regarded as the best option for the youngster's development, who, like his father, began as a defensive midfielder before progressing further forward. That choice was, however, fraught with difficulty. Junqueira left her job, friends and family for Rio, and Joao Pedro "cried a lot" during the journey and in the weeks that followed because of homesickness. Even in the academy, he was told he "wasn't strong enough" and would not make it. Again, it made him cry. But his mother, despite her increasingly limited means after leaving her job, hired a personal trainer for her son. At first, he ate well and trained well only because she told him to. Eventually, however, the penny dropped. "He was very skinny and there was a significant physical disparity between him and the other athletes in his age group," his long-time personal trainer Rodrigo Goncalves told BBC Sport. "He never stopped training. Sometimes he went a bit reluctantly, pushed by his mother, but he went. "Over the years, however, that changed. He began to mature and understand that training wasn't just something his mother required, but rather a tool to improve his performance, develop his body and build the physical balance needed for football." Joao Pedro became one of the stars of Fluminense's academy and was spotted by Watford's South America scout Rafa Monfort. A phone call from now-Tottenham striker Richarlison, who had made the same move, also proved crucial. As a child, Joao Pedro was hooked on Premier League football, so the idea of moving to Watford appealed to him. However, it took around eight months to meet the Governing Body Endorsement criteria and secure a UK work permit. Junqueira believes an overhead kick scored by Joao Pedro, then 17, against Cruzeiro in May 2019 helped convince decision-makers he was an exceptional talent worthy of the move. When the family arrived in December 2019, Junqueira had not anticipated her bank cards would not work in England. However, then-Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, also Brazilian, took them under his wing and even bought them Christmas dinner. A few months later, Covid and lockdown arrived, but Joao Pedro used the unprecedented period to focus on physical training with Goncalves again. He transformed his body by gaining around eight kilograms of body mass and became Premier League-ready. After that period, he was no longer the little boy who cried, but a fully-fledged top-flight star capable of taking each step and challenge in his stride. Joao Pedro extends Chelsea stay until 2034 Delap loses number nine shirt & trains away from first team 'When he's angry, he doesn't shout, but goes quiet' After a deal was agreed with Brighton last summer, Joao Pedro left a training camp in Rio de Janeiro under the guidance of Goncalves to join the Chelsea squad in Miami and immediately take part in the Fifa Club World Cup. Remarkably, he scored twice in the semi-final against former club Fluminense - just days after arriving at the club. He was also on target in a sensational 3-0 win over Paris St-Germain in the final, widely regarded as Chelsea's best moment under their current American ownership. The Blues endured a dismal campaign following that triumph, finishing 10th in the Premier League and ending the season without a trophy and failing to qualify for Europe. Despite that, Joao Pedro won Chelsea's player of the season award and is among a group of senior players convinced the project can succeed under Alonso. Like midfielder Moises Caicedo and captain Reece James, he signed a new contract, while Palmer has also outlined his commitment to stay amid links with Manchester United. All four are viewed as key culture-setters at the club. Joao Pedro, in particular, impressed staff by giving more interviews than any other player during a season in which there were few positives to discuss. Multiple sources have previously told BBC Sport Chelsea have a dressing-room culture problem, specifically with cliques forming along language lines. Joao Pedro and Palmer, who count each other among their closest friends, are viewed as two of the players capable of naturally bridging those divides. It helps that Joao Pedro has his family in the UK and has embraced aspects of local culture, having first developed an interest through his love of the Premier League. He is known to listen to trap music, a UK form of hip-hop, and both he and Palmer appeared in pop icon Madonna's promotional short film Confessions II in June. One of Alonso's main objectives is to rebuild a wayward culture which some sources have described to BBC Sport as overly "transactional" and "cold". After his front three, including debutant Rogers, scored against Fulham, Alonso said: "They need to take responsibility. They need to lead the rest. They need to inspire the rest because if they do great, the others will follow." Few know how Joao Pedro handled his omission from the Brazil squad at the World Cup, where they were knocked out in the last 16 by Norway this summer. Even those closest to him do not know how disappointed he was to miss out, given that playing for Brazil at a World Cup had long been one of his biggest dreams. "When Joao Pedro is angry, he doesn't shout, he goes quiet," Junqueira said of his general personality. After Chelsea's struggles season and the lack of World Cup involvement, he had two weeks completely off. Joao Pedro spent the rest of his summer in Rio training with Goncalves, his personal fitness coach since childhood, surrounded by friends and following many of the same routines he always has. Ultimately, according to Goncalves, the frontman remains the same person, but one intent on becoming a truly "elite". Since returning to Chelsea in the summer, he has scored eight goals in seven pre-season matches before finding the net 31 seconds into the new campaign at Fulham. It now appears Joao Pedro may be the one capable of finally ending talk and concern of the club's number nine curse. Latest Chelsea news, analysis and fan views Ask about Chelsea - what do you want to know?