Drog days are over: Blues star nears exit
CHELSEA look to have lost their battle to keep Champions League hero Didier Drogba after the striker told team-mates he has decided to end his eight-year stint in west London.
Ivory Coast star Drogba’s most likely destination is believed to be ambitious Shanghai Shenhua, who lured his former colleague Nicolas Anelka from Stamford Bridge during the January transfer window.
The 34-year-old could earn as much as £250,000 a week in China, while Chelsea were thought ready only to offer a 12-month extension to his current contract, rather than the two-year deal he had been seeking.
Drogba’s admission to the Blues dressing room came on Sunday, just hours after he scored the winning penalty in Saturday’s final shoot-out against Bayern Munich in Germany, according to reports in France.
“We will no longer be together next season,” he is quoted as saying in France Football magazine. “As I have decided to leave, I wanted to tell them to their faces. Except that I could not do it. They made me crack.
“Even though it’s three years since I said I wanted to leave, I find it hard to admit that it’s over with this club. But I couldn’t see myself sitting on the bench to watch others play when the club plans to build a new team.”
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said on Sunday that the club planned further talks with the former Marseille, Guingamp and Le Mans player, but Drogba appears to have sent a clear signal that his mind is made up.
Saturday saw Drogba claim the only major club honour to have previously eluded him with the Blues, having won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups.
The totemic target man has become synonymous with the most successful spell in the club’s history, his £24m move from Marseille having been one of the earlier record buys of the Roman Abramovich era.
IN NUMBERS: DROGBA AT CHELSEA
SEASON GAMES GOALS GOALS/GAME
2004-05 41 16 0.39
2005-06 41 16 0.39
2006-07 60 33 0.55
2007-08 32 15 0.47
2008-09 42 14 0.33
2009-10 44 37 0.88
2010-11 46 13 0.28
2011-12 35 13 0.37
OVERALL 341 157 0.46