European glory prompts Drogba to quit Chelsea
WINNING the Champions League convinced Didier Drogba to quit Chelsea, the striker said yesterday as he confirmed the end of his eight-year spell with the club.
The Ivory Coast star, who is tipped to move to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, revealed he agonised over his future until the Blues conquered Europe in Saturday’s final.
Drogba, 34, scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich and then netted the winning penalty as Chelsea became the first London team to lift the trophy.
“Winning this final was the key. Not me scoring the penalty, but winning the game was the turning point,” said Drogba, who scored 157 goals in 341 Blues appearances.
“That’s why I decided. I said, ‘We’ve made history, all together’. I want people to remember that and I think it’s the best time to move on.
“There’s a chance that if the result was different, maybe I would be here. We were talking for many weeks, but the turning point was based on the fact I won everything I could and scored in most of the finals we have played.”
Drogba, who is out of contract this summer, failed to agree a new deal with Chelsea, who made him their record signing when they paid Marseille £24m in 2004.
He is thought to have been offered £250,000 a week to play for Shanghai Shenhua, the ambitous club who offered Blues outcast Nicolas Anelka a gilded escape route in January.
His departure will ease £50m record signing Fernando Torres’s fears over a shortage of first-team starts, and Drogba believes the Spaniard will come to replace him as a talisman.
“It’s been a difficult season for him but he has shown in a few games that he is the man. Next season he is going to be his season,” he added.
“I tried to speak to him. We have a very good relationship, and we didn’t understand why we didn’t play together more, but that is the past, and he is the future here at Stamford Bridge.”