With his new book, Commitment due to be realised on the 19th November, sections of Didier Drogba’s autobiography are being revealed to the press.
The Daily Mail are reporting on a number of quotes from the book where the Ivorian speaks about the possibility of leaving Chelsea during his first couple of seasons in London and how he did not even know who John Terry was when he first signed for Chelsea.
The charismatic striker joined Chelsea in 2004 for a massive £24m from the French side, Marseille after some breathtaking displays in the Europa League, then named, the UEFA Cup.
During his early Chelsea career, Drogba’s adaptation to the Premier League from the Ligue 1 was anything but smooth. The striker was accused of diving and wasn’t immediately among the goals. In the book, he recalls his first days of training:
I noticed a tall, strong guy who looked so young, and who walked and carried himself in such a way that I assumed he was from the reserves. That’s interesting, I thought. They’ve obviously brought him over to get a bit of senior squad experience.
Towards the end of the session I asked another player who the young guy was. It’s the captain! he replied, laughing. John Terry. That’s how little I know about the team – I hadn’t even recognised their new young captain!
Drogba reveals how Frank Lampard urged him to stay after a bumpy start, via a text message! The text read:
Hi DD, I hope that you’re staying, because we have to win the league together, and we have to win the Champions League together!
Fernando Torres was the man Chelsea wanted to replace Didier Drogba as he entered his older years, the Spaniard failed to do so. Drogba says the stature of Chelsea hindered Torres:
With all due respect to Liverpool, at that club, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres had been the kings. At Chelsea, there were twenty-two kings.
Finally, Drogba reveals how the Chelsea players took control on route to the 2012 final against Bayern Munich and Jose Bosingwa decided who was playing where!
The manager was telling Branislav Ivanovic to play centre back but Jose Bosingwa said, No, no, I will play centre back, and carried on to say where he thought others should play.
I don’t care, I remember saying. I can play left back if necessary. We don’t need a striker. I’ll play striker and left back, whatever it takes.
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