The ridiculous story in the press linking Real Madrid with a £10million move for Didier Drogba sparked a bit of debate between myself and an opposition blogger yesterday. Not just because the sum of money was a joke but also because I really couldn’t see that move happening.
The opposition stance was that maybe for an offer of around £20million, particularly if Drogba wanted to go and play for Mourinho again, Chelsea would have a job keeping him. My stance, on the other hand, was that firstly, I genuinely believe Drogba’s found what he’s been looking for at Chelsea so why would he want out now? And secondly, even for £20million, the club isn’t stupid enough to believe we can replace him right now.
On my first point, I’m probably the last person to trust Didier Drogba. God knows I’ve written enough on the subject every time he’s said he wanted to leave in the past – and he’s said it often enough. But thinking about the time’s he’s said it, things haven’t been right. They’ve been times when we weren’t being managed well as a team, things weren’t right on and off the field and Didier Drogba often wasn’t feeling the love. Or he’d been out injured or off form – and as we now know, he’s been playing with a groin problem for years anyway.
That’s not the case right now, Ancelotti seems to have steadied the good ship Chelsea and all who sail in her are doing so on seemingly calm waters. Didier Drogba, even a ‘not completely fit’ Didier Drogba, is firing on all cylinders – pain free now – and he’s getting the adulation he thrives off. Why on earth would he even consider leaving now? I know he’s got an ego the size of a house, but whether it’s Real Madrid or not, would he want to take the risk of moving to the unknown now when the familiar is giving him what he craves already? I don’t think he would.
And on my second point, Chelsea know Drogba’s worth right now – and not just in monetary terms – and we don’t need £20million badly enough, for a 32 year old or otherwise, to leave ourselves up shit creek without a paddle. Maybe if Torres had made himself available to us we might have considered it but with no other players out there anywhere near Drogba’s class, there’s no way the club would leave themselves with Anelka and Kalou to defend the title through choice. And whilst it may be argued that should Drogba want to play for his former boss badly enough, he could simply hand in a request and make our lives a misery until we agreed, I’ll go back to my first point again – is that even likely?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t suddenly believe Drogba’s an angel because miracles don’t happen – not even at Stamford Bridge – and as recently as our title winning game last season he proved exactly that by seeming more focused on the individual award of the ‘Golden Boot’ than the team honour of the Premier League title when it came to ‘that penalty debate’ with Lampard, but I do believe that overall, there’s been some sort of recovery from old itchy feet syndrome he used to be afflicted with.
Fortunately, our Ivorian powerhouse seems to reinforce that suggestion after his storming performance this weekend, stating “I am better at 32 than I was six years ago, when I came here. I am scoring more goals, I am more calm, more relaxed on the pitch and it helps a lot. If I keep playing in a team like this I can plan maybe five more years. I was only 25 when I started at the highest level, so I feel young. I still love the pitch, running. I don’t count the runs I make. Maybe in a year or two it will be different.”
Maybe it will but for now, he’s just passed Jimmy Greaves record as he moved to 134 goals from 261 games and with the start even an ‘unfit’ Drogba has got off to, you’d have to think there’s every possibility he could improve on last season’s total of 37 goals in all competitions.
Surprisingly though, the unusually modest Ivorian says “I don’t want to be too ambitious. I’d rather score 20 goals but win the Champions League and the Premier League. It’s not really about my performance but I’ve always tried to improve my statistics. It’s just the mentality I have. It’s important in the collective game to improve as an individual and bring a lot to the team.”
Still sound like a player who’d fancy a move? I rest my case.
Blue is the colour
