Mandzukic Takes The Burden To Break The Curse Of Number Nine Milan

Mario Mandzukic (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - AC Milan's new striker Mario Mandzukic shouldered the burden of breaking the curse of number nine at the club based in San Siro.

Since Filippo Inzaghi retired, nine players have tried their luck wearing the jersey number nine and failed. No wonder some people consider the jersey number a curse at Milan.

Inzaghi defended Milan from 2001 to 2012 and continued a great history with the number nine jersey.

Prior to being worn by Inzaghi, the jersey number was worn by George Weah, Patrick Kluivert, Roberto Baggio, Daniele Massaro, Jean-Pierre Papin, Marco van Basten, Aldo Serena, Pietro Paolo Virdis, Angelo Sormani, Juan Schiaffino, Gunnar Nordahl, and Nils. Liedholm.

Former Juventus forward Inzaghi was able to answer the given responsibility by presenting two Italian League titles, two Champions League titles and one Club World Cup.

Inzaghi retired in July 2012 with 300 competitive appearances for the Rossoneri and 126 goals. But since then no one has been able to fill the vacant position he left.

Now Mandzukic will try to become that figure. The 34-year-old Croatian has scored 197 goals in 497 competitive games, including while playing for Juventus, Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.

For comparison, here are the names of players who have tried and then failed while carrying the burden of being the number nine player in Milan.

Krzysztof Piatek

Piatek was signed in January 2019 after doing well at the start of the season with Genoa and he finished his first season in Italy with 30 goals in all competitions. But at Milan, he scored only 14 goals in 41 games over the year, before moving to Hertha Berlin in January 2020.

Gonzalo Higuain

The Argentine forward was brought in on loan from Juventus in the summer of 2018, but his tenure at Milan was short. With eight goals in 22 games, his tally isn't the worst, but the former Napoli man joins Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea after six months in the red and black shirt.

Andre Silva

Great hopes had been placed on Silva when he arrived in July 2017, but the young player had difficulty answering these expectations. The 25-year-old is now starting to be productive with Eintracht Frankfurt in the German League, but he left Milan after only collecting ten goals in 41 competitive matches.

Gianluca Lapadula

Lapadula was brought in from Pescara in July 2016 after collecting 30 goals in 44 Serie B games, including in the promotional playoffs. However he never secured a place in Milan's first team and after contributing eight goals in 29 games for the Rossonerri he left after only remaining there for one season.

Luiz Adriano

The Brazilian was brought in after performing brilliantly with Shakhtar Donetsk, but the burden as the number nine in Milan is too heavy. After collecting four goals in 26 Italian League matches in his first season 2015/2016, he then changed his jersey number to number seven and then moved to Spartak Moscow in January 2017.

Fernando Torres

The Spaniard struggled to do well in the first half of the 2014/2015 season as he has never fully recovered from injury. The former Liverpool forward spent six months at the San Siro with just one goal in ten appearances for the Rossoneri.

Mattia Destro

The forward was borrowed from AS Roma to replace Torres in the second half of the season, but he never appeared convincing for Mian. Destro then moved on in the second half of the season with a record three goals in 15 games.

Alessandro Matri

The former Milan youth player returned home for the 2013/2014 season after carving out success with Cagliari and Juventus. However, Matri's return did not end in a beautiful story. After only contributing one goal in 15 league games, he was loaned to Fiorentina in January 2014.

Alessandro Pato

The Brazilian is currently without a club and was tempted to return to Milan. Pato spent six seasons at Milan and was given the jersey number nine when Inzaghi hung up his boots ahead of the 2013/2014 season. But he returned to Brazil six months later with a four-game goalless finish in the Italian league after being awarded the legendary jersey number.