“Drogba is undoubtedly a Chelsea legend,” London club confirm Ivorian’s exit

After it was reported in the French media that Didier Drogba was set to leave Chelsea, his agent denied the claims. But the chief executive of the club, Ron Gourlay has confirmed the 34-year-old is indeed leaving. “Didier is undoubtedly a Chelsea legend and will always be part of the Chelsea family,” Gourlay said. “He is certainly leaving on a high after Saturday night but he feels the time is right for a new challenge. “Of course Didier has contributed so much to all of Chelsea’s recent successes. He has been a consummate professional during his entire time here and as one of the natural leaders in our squad he has been an inspiration to a lot of our younger players. “We have known for some time that this outcome was likely but Didier and the club only made a final decision on that in the last couple of days, because for obvious reasons neither Didier nor the club wanted to distract focus away from the Champions League Final. “The talks were amicable all the way through and we wish him all the best for the future. He is welcome back to Stamford Bridge at any time – either as a player or as a guest of ours.” The Ivory Coast captain scored 157 times in 341 appearances for the Blues and won 10 trophies – the last being the Champions League where he scored the winning penalty.