Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has finally confirmed that he will not be retiring at the end of the campaign, but he was not sure about staying at Stamford Bridge.

The forward returned to the club last summer on a free transfer. This is his second spell at the club and he has been a bit part player this time around. This is due to the presence of younger strikers like Diego Costa and Loic Remy ahead of him in the pecking order. The 37-year-old, though, has contributed to the team with crucial goals against the likes of Tottenham. In all, he has scored five goals in seven starts for the team with most of his other appearances being as a substitute.

Drogba’s contract runs out at the end of the campaign and there have been suggestions that MLS clubs could be interested in offering him a new deal. The prospect of remaining at Chelsea has not been ruled out, although it could be in a different role. After having won several titles in his first spell, it looks like Drogba will be winning the Premier League and the Capital One Cup with Chelsea this season. Drogba has been starting for the last two matches due to absences of both Costa and Remy.

“I have made a decision, yes. And no, this is not my last season,” said Drogba.“We have to think, we have to speak, we have to know what he wants.We have a lot of talks to do. But it’s not a problem. I don’t know if he wants to. There are people who, during their careers, earn the right and the power to make decisions and not wait for others to make decisions for them. What he did at this club for so many years puts him in a great position,” said Mourinho about Drogba.

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba is arguably the best African player to ever compete in the Premier League as the 37 year old forward helped Chelsea in winning major titles including: 3 League titles, 4 FA Cups as well as going on to score the winning penalty during the 2012 Champions League that saw Chelsea claiming a triumph over Bayern Munich.

Not everything has been a success for Didier Drogba in Stamford Bridge as the player from Ivory Coast recently celebrated his 37th birthday in an undesirable way as Chelsea lost against PSG and the Premier League club was knocked out of this season’s Champions League.

The 1st leg was played in the home turf of PSG at the Parc des Princes which finished with a 1-1 tie.

Everything had to be decided in the 2nd leg which was played in Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took the lead at the 81st minute with an powerful shot that found it’s way into the net of Salvatore Sirigu.

David Luiz tied the match up 1-1 as the Brazilian defender headed the ball into the net at the 86th minute and forced the match to have to go into extra-time. Didier Drogba entered the pitch after 90 minutes as he replaced Ramires but the Ivorian attacker made no impact in the game as he barely even touched the ball.

Eden Hazard restored the lead to Chelsea through a penalty kick but Thiago Silva was the hero of the match as he scored the winning goal at the 114th minute.

It was an agonizing defeat for Chelsea as they are now knocked out of the Champions League despite having an upper hand in the amount of players that were on the pitch after Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a red card in the first half and PSG was forced to play with 10 men but the French side still managed on claiming the triumph.

It certainly was not the best way that Didier Drogba wanted to spend his birthday as he watched his teammates getting eliminated from the European competition and the Ivorian player was not able to do anything to avoid the defeat.

Didier Drogba is an icon for fans of Chelsea as the Ivorian forward played a crucial role a few years ago in the title winning seasons for the English club where they managed on winning 3 Premier League titles and Drogba also was at the center stage of Europe when he scored the last penalty kick when playing in the finals of the 2011-12 Champions League as Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich.

Even with everything that Drogba has accomplished with Chelsea, it seemed rather dubious and questionable to many fans of the club when Drogba signed a 12 month loan deal with Chelsea.

At the age of 36 Didier Drogba signed a season long contract with Chelsea and this sparked a series of doubts as if the Premier League club would truly be in need of signing the Ivorian striker as Jose Mourinho had already signed Diego Costa from Athletic Madrid but Drogba continues to amaze as he has managed to step it up during the moments when Diego Costa has not been able to play due to injuries.

Drogba dropped a hint which suggested that this could probably be his last season as a player of Chelsea and he wants to end his time playing at Stamford Bridge on a high note by winning even more major titles.

Drogba said: “This year the key for me is to enjoy my football and to be with my team-mates and to win trophies. There is one more year to go so let’s do it, let’s win more trophies, let’s make history again. I wanted to come back to the club where I made history and I still feel there is a lot of history to achieve to here and I wanted to come back home it was simple.”

Drogba has been linked with a managerial role at Stamford Bridge as the Ivorian footballer is being viewed as a potential coach for Chelsea in the future but even with his impressive string of performances that he has made, it’s highly likely that this will be the last season of Drogba not only with Chelsea but as a player before he decides to hang up his boots and retire.

Didier Drogba has given a major hint that this season could be his last at Chelsea.

The forward came back to the West London outfit only in the summer on a one-year contract. At 36 years of age, he is no longer capable of playing on a regular basis. It was a largely held belief that Drogba’s return was made purely on a sentimental basis, but the striker has proved in recent weeks that it was not the case. His goals against the likes of Maribor and Manchester United have helped Chelsea pick up some vital points.

The striker, though, has confirmed that this season could be his final at the club. Diego Costa and Loic Remy are expected to be the main strikers going forward. Costa has proved to be the missing link in the Chelsea jigsaw. The former Atletico Madrid forward has already scored 10 goals and is the league’s second best scorer. Drogba managed to win several titles including the Premier League and the Champions League in his first spell at Chelsea. He is hoping for a similarly trophy laden campaign this time around. Chelsea appear overwhelming favourites for the league title due to their eight-point advantage over Manchester City.

Chelsea are also close to sealing qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League with one match remaining. “This year, the key for me is to enjoy my football and to be with my team-mates and to win trophies.There is one more year to go so let’s do it, let’s win more trophies, let’s make history again.This relationship between me and the fans goes both ways, the way they show their support and the way they love me. If there is some way I love them even more because of all we achieved together, all the history,” said Drogba.

Chelsea defender John Terry has claimed that striker Didier Drogba has lost none of its potency despite being at several clubs playing in and out football for the last few years. The 36-year-old striker recently returned at Chelsea on a one-year contract. He had initially left the blues in 2012 after winning the Champions League. Spells at clubs in China and Turkey followed, but now he has returned once again back to the big stage with Chelsea. He is unlikely to be a first choice striker due to the presence of Diego Costa and Fernando Torres.

However, Terry reckons that Drogba still remains formidable opposition from the way he has been coming up against in training. After the exit of Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba, Chelsea were in need of a forward to assist Torres and Costa should the suffering injuries over the course of the campaign. After having scored more than 150 league goals in his first spell Chelsea, Drogba represents a player who will take no time to adjust to the new surroundings. Even though he is on his last legs as a player, Chelsea could do with his experience. Drogba and Terry remain as the few players who have won the lot with Chelsea.

“Didier’s still the same. He’s been a nightmare to play against in training. He’s still physically strong, sharp and hungry as well. It’s important Didier is here because he brings that mentality of wanting to win every day and that rubs off on people like Kurt Zouma and the other young players he’s playing against. It just doesn’t seem right to see them in different shirts,” said Terry. The Chelsea captain also spoke about his exit, which may come in the next few years. Terry still has only one year left on his contract.

Didier Drogba has been tipped to sign for Chelsea for the second time. The Ivory Coast international has already had a long stint at Stamford Bridge from 2004 to 2012 and if the reports are to be believed, he would be making his way to West London this summer again.

Drogba’s contract at his current club Galatasaray SK is finished and he is not likely to get an extension there. So, he would be a free agent during the transfer window.

The Blues are understood to have planned to approach Drogba once he is back from the World Cup and if both the parties get settled on some kind of an agreement, the veteran striker would be seen in Blue jersey during the upcoming season.

It’s the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, who is the most keen to land Drogba at Stamford Bridge considering the fact that his experience can prove to be vital for his team.

Drogba had achieved a lot during his first tenure at Chelsea. He was an absolute hero among the club fans and people were actually surprised when he decided to take a transfer away from England in the summer of 2012.

Chelsea had won the European Cup that year and Drogba had done his bit in that by successfully converting a penalty in the final match of the tournament.

But, he couldn’t agree terms with the club regarding a new deal and thus, had to leave.

He had even expressed his disappointment over that in one of his interviews earlier this year.

Talking to the correspondent of a newspaper, Drogba had said, “That wouldn’t be the end for me there at Stamford Bridge if a midway had been found by the two parties. However, there is no point discussing that now.”

Ivory Coast manager Sabri Lamouchi has sent out a warning to former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba saying that the 36-year-old should not take his first-team spot in the team as a guarantee. Drogba is expected to be a starter at the World Cup 2014 for the Ivory Coast team, who start the campaign with a match against Japan. After years of underachievement even with the likes of Drogba leading the line, it looks like Lamouchi is ready to adopt a different approach. Further, at 36 years of age, Drogba is past the peak of his career.

This coupled with a lack of a club in the summer is likely to put Drogba as the second choice striker in the team. Unlike in previous years, Ivory Coast have a wealth of strikers capable of replacing Drogba. Swansea frontman Wilfried Bony is one of them. Bony comes under the World Cup on the back of an impressive season with Swansea in which he scored more than 20 goals. In contrast, Drogba has struggled to live up to his expectations at Galatasaray. He has left the Turkish club after his contract came to an end. Lamouchi says that reputation alone will not be enough for Drogba to get a first-team spot and that he has to show he is worthy of it.

“There is no favouritism here. Before me, nobody had dared put Didier or Kolo (Toure) on the bench. I did it against Tunisia and we won 3-0. It was not to assert my power, but just to show that at certain moments, status is not enough. Some said that I was brave, others that I was crazy. This is certainly proof that I am under no pressure to pick certain names. I don’t want to treat my players like that,” said the Ivory Coast boss.

Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins has said that manager José Mourinho should reconsider his decision to sell Romelu Lukaku in the summer. It is widely believed that Mourinho has made the decision to fill the Belgian international in order to raise money to bring in Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid. The striker is expected to cost in the region of £ 35 million and due to the FFP regulations, Chelsea will not be able to spend that kind of money on one single player.

Lukaku, who has spent the last two seasons on loan at West Brom and Everton, has reportedly fell out with Mourinho and will be sold in order to accommodate the new striker. However, the Belgian international has impressed heavily during this period by scoring 15 and 17 goals in the league. His physical stature is almost similar to that of Didier Drogba, who was a key part of Chelsea success in the last decade. Even after two years, the club still play the kind of football that suits Drogba. Wilkins reckons that Lukaku can become the new Drogba with proper guidance.

In the past, the 21-year-old has tried to avoid comparisons with Drogba by saying that he is a different kind of player to the Ivory Coast international.

“He has to come back to Chelsea in my opinion. This young man is the closest thing you’ll see to the ‘Drog’ at such a young age. The 21-year-old’s success at Everton also presents a difficulty for boss Roberto Martinez as it appears the Toffees will struggle to land the striker again either on loan or permanently. Lukaku scored 16 goals at Everton in the Premier League so [his departure] is a massive problem for Roberto Martinez, as it was for West Brom,” said Wilkins, who is now a pundit.

Swansea city manager Gary Monk has compared his striker Wilfried Bony to Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba. He also says that the former Vitesse Arnhem striker can become even better than Drogba, who scored more than 150 goals during his eight-year stay with Chelsea.

The Ivory Coast star is approaching the end of his career, but that has not prevented this star value from diminishing. He is currently playing with Turkish outfit Galatasaray. Bony came to the Premier league only in the summer from Vitesse Arnhem for £ 12 million.

Many questioned the value of the deal when it was announced, but he has more than proved to be a very good striker in the last few months at the club. The 25-year-old was also linked with the likes of Chelsea before the move to Swansea. In the 41 appearances he has made, the striker has scored 20 goals, which is a decent tally considering that Swansea have been struggling with relegation for most of the season. They would have been easily down in the drop zone had it not been for his goals. Monk recalled an incident from the first day of the training to show how strong a player the club had in its hands.

“Wilfried can definitely have the same impact as Drogba. I think he has shown that, and with Michu back, they will both want to be top dog and get goals for us. He is a real strong lad. He dislocated my finger on the first day in training. I went to push him off and my finger just snapped. He is solid,” said the Swansea manager, who could be facing a fight to keep the striker at the club in the summer. Bony has warned the opposition that he is not happy with his form and wants to get better.

Didier Drogba has admitted that he could have stayed at Chelsea beyond the 2012 campaign had the club reached an agreement with his agent over the new contract.

After months of speculation, it was finally announced after Chelsea’s Champions League win that Drogba would be bringing his eight-year spell at the club to an end. He has become a legend at the club after helping the blues to numerous titles over this period. He has also plundered 157 goals in just 340 matches. Drogba will be returning to Chelsea for the first time since leaving the club in 2012.

His Galatasaray team will be visiting Stamford Bridge for the second leg of the Champions League encounter. There has been a lot of speculation that the Drogba could return to Chelsea in the summer since he is coming to the end of his Galatasaray contract. Mourinho has only increased this speculation by suggesting that the player could return to the club one day, but he failed to speculate in which form. There have been suggestions that Drogba may retire from football at the end of the season and become a coach at Chelsea.

The 36-year-old has revealed that he still owns the place used to live Cobham, as his family continues to reside here.

“Why did I leave Chelsea? I didn’t want to talk about that, but I would have stayed if we could find a satisfactory agreement for both parties. I will live there at the end of my career. My children grew there and like London. I remember at the start I was depressed there, seeing dark sky and night so early every day. The two first seasons I was always saying: I am fed up, I can’t adapt, I want to leave! Finally I held on and there is the result!” said Drogba.