Arsenal Moves to Sign Didier Drogba

Arsenal has surprised the football world by moving in for Didier Drogba. The Gunners have officially approached Shanghai Shenhua with interest in the transfer status of Didier Drogba.

Reports flying in from North London suggest Arsenal is very serious about adding the Chelsea legend Didier Drogba to their squad. The Ivory Coast international will be available on free transfer next year in summer, but Arsenal doesn’t want to wait so long.full details inside

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has always had an eye for Didier Drogba. With problems rising with his stay at Shanghai Shenhua, Didier Drogba could be on his way to Premier League as soon as this winter.

Didier Drogba left Chelsea after helping them win their first ever Champions League title and their fourth FA Cup trophy. The veteran proved to be the cornerstone behind Chelsea’s Champions League and FA Cup campaigns.

The 34-year-old striker has continued with his excellent form Shanghai Shenhua, but financial constraints and tenuous relations with the club are forcing Didier Drogba towards an away move. Didier Drogba has scored four goals and assisted once in six games for Shanghai Shenhua.

Arsenal’s inexperienced and misfiring attack needs an experienced Premier League striker to guide them. Arsene Wenger’s idea of replacing Robin van Persie with Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski has failed misera.bly. Both strikers haven’t been able to kick off Arsenal to a flying start.

If Didier Drogba is released by Shanghai Shenhua then Arsene Wenger will waste no time in signing him in. Fulham made a similar deal this season. Fulham signed in the Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis outside the transfer window because he wasn’t associated with any football club.

Meeting up with Didier Drogba’s wages will be the biggest problem for Arsenal Sources have revealed that Didier Drogba is being paid as much as £200,000 a week at Shanghai Shenhua.

Arsene Wenger won’t be willing to pay such a large amount to Didier Drogba. The best offer Didier Drogba can get from Arsenal is £100,000 a week. Arsene Wenger admits he passed on chance to sign Didier Drogba for just £100,000 around 10 years ago from Le Mans.

Drogba Heading Back to England Before Christmas

Didier Drogba dropped in to see his old Chelsea team-mates on Tuesday and the reunion is likely to be the precursor to a return to England before Christmas.  The Ivory Coast striker, currently playing for Chinese side Shanghai Shenua, wants to train with a  Barclays Premier League club if the Ivorians qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Chinese season ends in November and 34-year-old Drogba will need to stay in peak condition for the tournament, which is to be staged in South Africa starting on January 19.  Drogba left Chelsea three months ago having helped Roberto Di Matteo’s team to Champions League victory against Bayern Munich in May.full details inside

Emotional ties run deep and the striker is sure to ask manager Di Matteo first if he can join his former colleagues at the Surrey training ground. Intriguingly, there are suggestions in China that a boardroom power struggle could change the financial landscape at Shenua, which might mean premature departures for Drogba and former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka.

Mega-rich chairman Zhu Jun has threatened to rein in his funding. Drogba’s visit yesterday was a flying one. He was on the way to the Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Senegal and changed planes in London, where his children are still at school. Yet he made time to call in at the Cobham training complex, which is 10 miles round the M25 from Heathrow.

Drogba is planning to follow the example of David Beckham by training with a top-flight club, even if there is insufficient time for a short-term loan similar to those arranged for Thierry Henry or Robbie Keane.