Back in 2004, Didier Drogba may have cost a lot, but the fans who feel that the money was not spent very well are very rare to find. It is because of the performances of the Ivory Coast international at Stamford Bridge. However, there is an interesting talk before the deal happened for the player who moved from Italy to England.
Here is a short excerpt of talks which happened between the Chelsea owner and the then manager, Jose Mourinho.
“He had already played for Guingamp, Marseille, Le Mans, so when I took him to Chelsea I remember clearly [owner Roman] Abramovich was asking me, ‘Who? Who do you want as a striker?’
“With all the big names in Europe at that time I said Drogba. ‘Who is he? Where’s he playing?’ [I said] ‘Mr Abramovich – pay, pay, and don’t speak.’”
Juventus were also interested in signing the 26-year-old Drogba, who scored 19 goals for Ligue 1 Marseille in his final season, but Roman’s farsightedness helped Mourinho to secure the signature of the player and he flew to London.
“What Chelsea offered was the double that of Juventus’ offer,” Marseille president Christophe Bouchet said. “We could not let such an offer go. “Didier has signed a four-year contract, and the estimated price tag is between 35 and 40m euros (£23.3m and £26.6m).”
Player and manager loved each other and ended the first season together as Premier League winners, a trophy Drogba won with Chelsea on four occasions, along with four FA Cups, three League Cups, and the Champions League. He scored 164 goals in 381 games and among those many strikes were some of the most important in the club’s history.
The forward found the net 29 times and recorded 10 assists, while current Chelsea boss Lampard struck 22 times and created 14 goals. Mourinho said;
“Drogba is the kind of guy who is so loyal that he never forgot that I took him from Marseille to the Premier League, where he was not even expected because he didn’t start very young at that level.”
