Drogba my amigo, says Anigo

Marseille boss Jose Anigo today admitted he felt “great sadness” over the departure of Didier Drogba as the Ivory Coast striker’s transfer to Chelsea moved nearer completion.

As well as their professional relationship, Anigo revealed how he and the 26-year-old marksman had struck up a close friendship during recent months.

“I was prepared of course, but that didn’t stop me feeling great sadness,” said Anigo. “I will need a few days to take this in.

“There is such a complicity between him and me that I regard him as a friend.”

The sale of Drogba will see Marseille benefit on two levels, both in terms of finance, which is vital given the club’s debt, and in respect of team strengthening.

Anigo is set to be given somewhere near £15m (€22.5m) to bolster his squad, and his first post-Drogba deal is likely to see France full-back Bixente Lizarazu arrive at the Stade Velodrome.

That projected deal is a free transfer, but Lizarazu’s wage demands will be a factor which could use up some of those funds.

Even if Marseille make several new signings with the Drogba money, Anigo will continue to rue the Ivorian’s departure.

Drogba was in London today putting the finishing touches to his transfer.

Speaking on club website www.om.net, and also referring to another recent departure, Manuel Dos Santos, Anigo added: “It’s rare in this business to meet such honest and clean people.

“I can only wish them all the best wherever they go. A little bit of Marseille and ourselves will go with them. That’s what I told Didier when I spoke with him by telephone.

“He will have a better contract, and the club have carried out a great transaction. It was hard for him, as it was for ‘OM’, to make this choice.”