Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has confirmed he is leaving the club this summer, according to ESPN.

Drogba is out of contract next month and has been strongly linked with a move to link up with former Blues team mate Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua in China.

The Ivorian has spent 8 hugely successful seasons at Stamford Bridge, culminating in the striker scoring the winning penalty to secure the Champions League trophy on Saturday night. That looks to be the 34-year-old’s final contribution for Chelsea after he’s been quoted by ESPN as saying he will now leave the club ‘for another adventure’.

“We (he and his team-mates) will not be together next season. As I have decided to leave, I wanted to tell them to their faces.

“They made me break down. I found it hard to admit that it was finished with me and the club. But I don’t envisage sitting on the bench watching others play at a time when the club is looking at putting together a new team.

“So there we go, I am readying myself for a great leap into the unknown. It will be another adventure.” Drogba is quoted as saying by ESPN.

The decision to leave is an understandable one considering his age and i’m sure many Premier League centre backs will be glad to see the back of him, but his team-mates have done their best to persuade him to stay, with John Terry even chanting for the striker to remain at the Bridge during the club’s victory parade on Sunday.

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