Zimpapers Logo

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has told BBC Africa he would like to “give back” to the Premier League club in the future by becoming their manager or taking on another senior role.

Drogba, 37, is currently contracted to Montreal Impact, where he has scored 12 goals in 14 Major League Soccer appearances.

The Ivorian played for Chelsea over two separate stints, netting 157 goals in 341 outings and helping the club lift several trophies, including four Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Drogba said: “I want to give back to the club which has given so much to me. I’ve agreed that with the club directors.

“Why not manager? Why not sporting director, trainer at the academy or maybe an advising role for strikers?”

Current Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has come under pressure this season having won just four of their 13 league fixtures so far.

But Drogba is confident his former boss will turn things around at Stamford Bridge, adding: “If the club has kept him that means owner Roman Abramovich thinks that he is the right man.

“I think the players trust him and he is giving his best to change the situation.

“They have quality when it comes to the players, and quality when it comes to the management. This is a club which usually doesn’t have a bad season twice.”

Drogba has called on Chelsea’s leaders to stand up and drag the club away from the lower reaches of the Premier League.

Mourinho’s men are just three places above the relegation zone, with a 12-point gap to Arsenal in fourth.

“I don’t like to compare things to when I was there but there’re some facts that you can’t hide,” Drogba was quoted as saying by The Sun at the launch of his new book, Commitment.

“During my time at Chelsea we had a lot of leaders in the team, not only last year but during the previous seasons.

“There was Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, John Terry, myself, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Andriy Shevchenko, Claude Makelele — big names, big players and big characters.

“We could take responsibility for a result and change the situation in bad moments such as when there was a change of manager or when we had bad results.

“There was always someone to step up and say, ‘Guys, we need to do something’ and everybody would follow.

“JT is still there but on your own it’s very difficult, so other players have to come up with this mentality. “But it’s not something you are born with — you build it within you.

“You’ve to make sure that it’s the right moment to talk and to take the lead and, most importantly, the rest of the team has to accept you as a leader.

“When you stand up and say, ‘Let’s go and win’ you’ve to make sure that you produce yourself — you can’t be a leader if you’re not the first to show that you’ve the determination to want to win.

“I think there’re some leaders in this current squad and hopefully you will soon see that.” — ESPNFC.