Didier Drogab and his swimming pool of Yen

Didier Drogba is a man of contrasts; a 34-year old with the strength and energy of a man a decade younger, a 6’ 2” man weighing in at some 14st 5lbs that falls to the ground if someone blows out a candle in his vicinity.

And here’s another contrast to the list; after proving he’s still got the goods to unsettle the best of teams at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night and could do similar for a good while longer yet at the highest level, he now looks set to buy himself a pipe, some slippers and a subscription to the Daily Express and settle into semi-retirement in China.

The Daily Mail reports that he is close to joining ex-teammate Nicklas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua in the summer in a deal worth an eye-watering £6.7m  a year or, to put it another way, £130,000 a week after tax or, to put it yet another way, 1,321,327.80 Chinese Yen a week which, I believe, is enough notes to fill a swimming pool with so Drogba can now dive (ha!) into his money.

The Ivorian had been offered a 12-month contract extension at Chelsea and was reportedly willing to stay on at the club but only if they offered him a two-year deal instead.

However, the Mail report states that the striker will now join up with Anelka and on-loan Reading striker Mathieu Manset at Shanghai to wreak French-speaking havoc on the defences of the Chinese Super League.

It remains to be seen if Drogba will follow a similar path to Anelka and take a place on the coaching side of the club too because reasons.

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