Didier Drogba leaving Chelsea, but won't retire yet
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Updated 24/05/2015 at 12:58 GMT
Didier Drogba is leaving Chelsea for the second time and will play his last game for the Premier League champions against Sunderland on Sunday.
Chelsea's Ivorian striker Didier Drogba celebrates after the English Premier League football match
Image credit: AFP
Drogba, 37, has helped Chelsea to the Premier League title and Sunday’s game against Sunderland will be his last for the club he has served with distinction.
The striker, who spent spells with Galatasaray and Shanghai Shenhua after leaving Chelsea for the first time in 2012, revealed the news prior to kick-off.
“I want to play at least one more season and for more football I feel I need to go,” he said.
“All the fans know my love for Chelsea and I hope to be back here in the future in another role.”
The Ivory Coast striker, who first signed for Chelsea in 2004, has scored 104 goals in 253 league matches, becoming a talisman during the most successful era in the west London club's history.
Drogba will be best remembered for scoring a late equaliser and the decisive spot-kick in the penalty shootout against Bayern Munich which won the 2012 Champions League final.
The 37 year-old re-signed for Chelsea last year, after leaving the club in 2012 following a highly successful eight-year spell.
In total Drogba has won four Premier League titles with Chelsea, three League Cups, four FA Cups and the Champions League.
The striker was voted Chelsea's greatest-ever player by supporters in 2012.
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