Chelsea is a team that continues to attract the best players in the world, but one of their all-time greats wasn’t initially pleased to join the club
Didier Drogba once admitted he was not too happy when he agreed to link up with Chelsea.
The iconic striker is one of the greatest players in the club’s history, having led them to four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, the Champions League and three League Cups. Famously, Jose Mourinho turned down an opportunity to sign Ronaldinho and asked Blues’ billionaire Roman Abramovich to sign the Ivory Coast ace from Marseille in 2005.
However, while Mourinho was thrilled to link up with the now 45-year-old, Drogba was skeptical to say the least.
Drogba was content with remaining at Marseille, where he was a cult icon at the club. However, the French giants accepted a £24million bid anyway and, before he knew it, Drogba was having a medical in west London.
“I was disgusted. I realised that signing for Chelsea was disgusting. It’s hard to explain,” he said in a 2007 documentary entitled: ‘The Incredible Destiny of Didier Drogba’. “It’s hard to understand because most of all, people see the financial side, or even the sporting side. But I simply wasn’t happy.
“I said to myself ‘I couldn’t give a damn’ (that Marseille have accepted a bid). Maybe that’s going to shock supporters of Chelsea, but I didn’t want to leave.
“I even did some things that were almost absurd, in order not to go to Chelsea, such as during the medical. Going to the hospital in Paris, I was praying they would find a problem with my knee, or a problem with anything so the move would collapse.”
Of course, it’s important to note that Drogba went on to fall in love with the club and become one of their greatest ever players. An orange banner with his name on is still hung up at Stamford Bridge to mark his achievements.
After leaving to join Shanghai Shenhua after winning the Champions League in 2012, Drogba was signed again by Mourinho in 2014. Within one season, he went on to win another Premier League title and a League Cup in what was a short, but mightily successful second stint.
