DROG WALK ... Didier Drogba parades his new Shanghai Shenhua strip
Published:
14th
July 2012
DIDIER DROGBA started his new £200,000-week job by insisting that quitting Chelsea for China was not about cash.
Blues’ Champions League hero was welcomed by hundreds of fans as he
jetted in to join Chinese Super League strugglers Shanghai Shenhua.
And the 34-year-old striker told them he was there to help put China on the football map.
Drogba, who has signed a 2½-year deal worth a staggering £25million, said: “When the club and the president approached me I looked at the project and it came with ambitious ideas to help football develop in China.
“It could have been easy for me to stay in Europe and go to another big team.
“Really, I didn’t come here with the idea of making a lot of money.
“I came here because it is a completely different challenge from what I have seen in Europe before.
“And that’s the idea — there are many challenges, but this is a big one.”
Drogba will be reunited with his former Chelsea strike partner Nicolas Anelka, who left Chelsea in January.
But he is unlikely to be adding any medals to his collection for a while as Shanghai are currently 12th with 17 games already gone in the 30-match Chinese season.
Drogba added: “The results of my new team are not so great.
“But the second part of the season has just started and we have time to bring the club to a better place.
“With my team-mates, we are going to perform as much as we can.
“And I came here to win the league. I am not coming here as the beginning of my retirement.
“I want people to make sure and to understand that I am here to win. I am not here to sit and relax.”
And the 34-year-old striker told them he was there to help put China on the football map.
Drogba, who has signed a 2½-year deal worth a staggering £25million, said: “When the club and the president approached me I looked at the project and it came with ambitious ideas to help football develop in China.
“It could have been easy for me to stay in Europe and go to another big team.
“Really, I didn’t come here with the idea of making a lot of money.
“I came here because it is a completely different challenge from what I have seen in Europe before.
“And that’s the idea — there are many challenges, but this is a big one.”
Drogba will be reunited with his former Chelsea strike partner Nicolas Anelka, who left Chelsea in January.
But he is unlikely to be adding any medals to his collection for a while as Shanghai are currently 12th with 17 games already gone in the 30-match Chinese season.
Drogba added: “The results of my new team are not so great.
“But the second part of the season has just started and we have time to bring the club to a better place.
“With my team-mates, we are going to perform as much as we can.
“And I came here to win the league. I am not coming here as the beginning of my retirement.
“I want people to make sure and to understand that I am here to win. I am not here to sit and relax.”
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