New Drogba contract could be best Christmas present for Villas-Boas
Published:An in-form Didier Drogba is pivotal to any slim hopes Chelsea retain of winning the Premier League this season and therefore one of the big jobs facing manager Andre Villas-Boas in December is persuading the striker that he has a future at Stamford Bridge.
With many football fans adhering to the widely held suspicion that Fernando Torres will not rediscover his deadly form of previous years, it is unlikely that the Spaniard will be a regular name on the Chelsea scoresheet.
Throw in that Nicolas Anelka is out of favour at Stamford Bridge and Romelu Lukaku seemingly still has a lot to learn, the onus is on Drogba to score the goals to keep Chelsea in contention.
But Drogba’s heart will not be in the fight if he spends his time in negotiations about his future.
Drogba’s current contract runs out in the summer and a one-year extension has already been rejected as the Ivory Coast star chases a more lucrative long-term package.
Interest in him from abroad is rife, with Russian moneybags Anzhi eager to pair him in their attack with Samuel Eto’o and they will have no qualms about offering a big-money package.
The same can be said from wealthy clubs in Qatar, while LA Galaxy may be looking for a new global superstar in the coming weeks if David Beckham decides against extending his stay in the MLS.
Drogba is reportedly happy in London and would rather stay with Chelsea than leave if receiving an offer close to his demands, so the ball is on the court of Villas-Boas to make an offer than cannot be refused.
Chelsea are already ten points off Manchester City, but Arsenal made up a larger gap later into the season when claiming the Premier League title in 1997/98.
Therefore, it would be foolish to write off Chelsea before the midway point of the campaign as it would only take a few results to go in their favour to make inroads into their deficit.
Chelsea’s odds are 14/1 to win the Premier League at present and a resurgent Drogba could be vital in this quest.
