Didier
Drogba was on the verge of leaving
Chelsea in January, his agent has intimated, and only
didn't do so, supposedly, because the Stamford Bridge directors
made a choice between the Ivorian and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari,
with the Brazilian losing out because of Drogba bringing 'history'
to the club in recent seasons.
"Since last year, there have been two firm offers: Inter and
Manchester City, who offered me a golden deal," the player's agent,
Senegalese Thierno Seydi, is reported by Setanta
Sports as telling L’Observateur.
"I was okay, so was Didier, but Chelsea’s directors did say
'no'. They refused a €20 million transfer (£18 million) plus a
30-year-old player. It proves how much they trust Didier. And the
president [Abramovich] was right to keep Didier because the team
are winning again since he’s back in.
"That’s simple, the four biggest clubs in the world are
interested in him (laughs) but I won’t say more. That’s for
sure.
"Didier is one of the 10 best-paid players in the world,
but humility is part of his personality. I want him to become
an African Michel Platini when his career is over, a decision
taker."
Seydi also hinted that the problems between Scolari and Drogba,
seemingly a running sore that helped poison Chelsea's season, was
purely personal and had little to do with tactics.
"The fact that he was told to sit on the bench had nothing to do
with sport, it was just a problem between two men that couldn’t
work together," he explained.
"One had to go and Chelsea decided to part ways with Scolari.
They literally said that Didier made history at the club, that he
could still bring a lot to the team, so they decided to let the
coach go and to keep Didier."
<!--h3>Zack Wilson</h3-->
