Chelsea FC’s Top 5 Black Friday Bargains
1) Didier Drogba – £24 million, 2004.
Signed for £24 million, Didier Drogba may not appear as a bargain. He was unveiled alongside Arjen Robben, Petr Cech and Tiago, and was the most expensive of these men. Many doubted the marquee signing from Marseille, who was fairly unestablished in Europe.
Mourinho was asked if £24 million was too much to pay for him when he first joined in the summer of 2004, but in typical fashion, the manager bluntly replied to the question saying: “judge him when he leaves the club.”
Eight years, 341 appearances, 157 goals, three Premier Leagues, three League Cups, four FA Cups, two Community Shields and one Champions League later, Drogba left as a hero. His price tag was justified 100 times over, as Drogba led the line in the most successful era of the club’s history. He took his place alongside the king of Stamford Bridge, Peter Osgood, before returning to Chelsea in 2014, and winning another Premier League title under Mourinho.
The Ivorian is adored by Chelsea fans all over the globe, and what he did for the club, especially on that night in Munich in 2012 where he scored the winning penalty against Bayern in the shootout (after scoring an 88th-minute equalizer too) will never be forgotten.
Next: Didier Drogba’s Top 10 Chelsea FC Goals
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