• Shanghai Shenhua are favourites as his next club
• 'Fernando Torres will improve next season' – Drogba
Didier Drogba would have sought to stay at Chelsea had the club been thwarted in their pursuit of the Champions League and the team's success in Munich on Saturday provided the perfect denouement to his eight-year career at Stamford Bridge.
The Ivory Coast forward has confirmed his intention to leave the European Cup winners upon the expiry of his contract next month, after 157 goals in 341 appearances, and will now deliberate with his family over where he will play his football next season. The money-flushed Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, managed by his former Chelsea team‑mate Nicolas Anelka, remains his most likely destination.
While the London club's hierarchy had anticipated a parting of the ways this summer, the 34-year-old's decision was determined only after Bayern Munich were defeated at the weekend, with his last touch for the club proving to be the decisive penalty in the shootout at the Allianz Arena. "I would have stayed if we hadn't won the Champions League," said Drogba. "That was my challenge, what I wanted to achieve. It would have been very difficult to leave if we hadn't won the Champions League because we have been chasing this trophy for eight years, since I have been here, and we were always close to it.
"We even saw the cup in Moscow [in the 2008 final against Manchester United], walking by it, and we could not touch it. That was the challenge for the boys who were in Moscow. We wanted to go back and win it. It is important not only as a player, but as a man, to fix targets and try to achieve them. We wanted to win the Champions League."
Drogba believes Fernando Torres, who has endured life in the Ivorian's shadow since his £50m British record move from Liverpool 16 months ago, will now flourish in his absence as the veteran seeks his "new challenge". "Everybody knows Fernando is a very good player, an international player," said Drogba, whose goal against Bayern had been the first either has scored while both on the pitch as Chelsea players. "He's been through difficult moments here. It happens to everyone.
"The good thing is he has our support and I know, next season, he will improve and he's going to be better. Now I can't complain but my first few seasons here were very difficult. It's not easy to play for Chelsea. But this club is in good hands with Fernando. Of course we will need new strikers but Torres will do the job, he will do it. He will do it, no doubt.
"The club tried hard enough [to keep me] but I want a new challenge. It has been a fantastic eight years. It's been a pleasure and an honour to wear the blue shirt and to achieve everything we did here, all these trophies. The best for me was to finish on a high with this Champions League final.
"It was the best of the best, the crème de la crème. Now I will have time to make a decision on where I go next." Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
