Drogba preparing for Chelsea exit as Ivorian nears £6.7m-a-year China deal

Chelsea's man of the moment Didier Drogba was on Thursday night close to agreeing a £6.7million ( 1.6 billion Naira ) -a-year deal to join Shanghai Shenhua. Drogba scored the opener in Sunday’s 5-1 FA Cup semi-final win against Tottenham and the winner in Wednesday night’s stunning victory over Barcelona.

 But the 34-year-old is virtually assured of bringing the curtain down on his distinguished Chelsea career at the end of the season by joining former team-mate Nicolas Anelka — player-manager at Shenua — in China. The Ivory Coast striker is expected to sign a two-year deal worth £130,000 ( 32.5 million Naira ) a week after tax. Drogba had been willing to stay but Chelsea offered him only a 12-month extension on his contract, not the two years he wanted.