Mission accomplished for Drogba as he quits Blues

Winning the Champions League after a painstaking wait convinced Didier Drogba that the time was right to leave Chelsea.

The Ivory Coast striker, who scored the equaliser and then the winning penalty in the shoot-out in Saturday’s dramatic final win over Bayern Munich, announced yesterday that he is leaving the club to pursue a career elsewhere.

He departs Stamford Bridge with his reputation as one of the club’s greatest-ever players firmly intact, but knows it could have been so much different.