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

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 media: "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. 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 sources. 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 sources. "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