Chelsea are looking to bring Didier Drogba back to Stamford Bridge in the summer, with owner Roman Abramovich reportedly the driving force behind the move.
Drogba, who turns 36 in March, is wanted back in west London as a coach, reports The Times and Sunday People, to help Chelsea create their own star strikers of the future rather than spend millions on proven talent.
The move could well appeal to the striker, whose Galatasaray host Jose Mourinho’s Premier League leaders on Wednesday
The Cote d’Ivoire goal machine was on Mourinho’s radar earlier this season when he was looking to add to his attacking arsenal, but Abramovich — who is friends with the powerful forward — was reluctant to bring in another veteran to a side with a number of players on the wrong side of 30.
While the Russian billionaire has been anything but shy of reaching into his pockets for big name goal scorers — he’s topped £150million on the likes of Fernando Torres, Adrian Mutu, Andriy Shevchenko, Hernan Crespo, Nicolas Anelka and Drogba in the past decade — it would of course make better business sense for the club to nurture its own talent.
Should Drogba take up the opportunity, it would give him the chance to get his coaching badges and prepare for a life after playing behind the scenes of a club that holds him dear to their hearts.