Didier Drogba has confirmed that he will be leaving Chelsea for the second time and that the match played yesterday afternoon against Sunderland was his final game at the club. His first departure from the club came in 2012 after winning the Champions League trophy in the final against Bayern Munich which was played in Munich, where he scored the equaliser in the 88th minute and went on to score the decisive penalty.
After joining Shanghai Shenhua in 2012, he appeared 11 times before joining Galatasaray, where he played 37 games before making a comeback to Chelsea again in 2014, where he played 28 matches. The 37-year old was used sparingly by Jose Mourinho this season and has only managed to score four Premier League goals. He was brought in to the team from Marseille in 2004 by Jose Mourinho, who just like him left the club and came back for a second spell.
Drogba won another Premier League medal to make it four. However, Drogba is not retiring and has outlined his plan to play in another club for one more season before he retires. Drogba’s comments,”I want to play for at least one more season and in order to play more football I feel I need to go to another club,” he told the official Chelsea website.
So the big question is which team will Drogba join? In 2011 he turned down a move to MLS when he joined Shanghai Shenhua in China instead. Speculations are that he might join New York City FC, who still have one spot to fill alongside Frank Lampard.
Drogba leaves the club with so many accolades, he won the FA cup in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012, where he impressively scored in all four finals. He also won the league cup in 2005 and 2007, the Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 and the 2011-2012 Champions League in Munich.
He retired from international duty in August last year after scoring a record 65 goals in 104 appearances for Ivory Coast and having won African Footballer of the Year twice in 2006 and 2009. Chelsea said in a statement,”Everyone at Chelsea Football Club would like to thank Didier Drogba for his fantastic service and he is always welcome back to Stamford Bridge.”