Drogba Inter link irks Scolari

Chelsea will go into tonight’s vital Champions League showdown with Bordeaux surrounded by yet more controversy over their Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.

Drogba is alleged to have met Inter Milan’s sporting director Marco Branca in a Fulham restaurant on Monday night along with Jose Mourinho’s agent, Jorge Mendes, and the player’s representative.

The rumours cast a shadow over Chelsea’s preparations for a game in which victory would ensure qualification to the knockout stages.

Chelsea are currently one point ahead of both Roma and Bordeaux in Group A, but defeat in the Stade Chaban-Delmas would leave the English side facing a tense last-round encounter with CFR Cluj at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was clearly irritated by the Drogba rumour.

“I do not sleep with him (Drogba),” retorted Scolari. “Where he was last night? I don’t know. I am not a policeman for my players.”

But when the Brazilian was asked if Drogba had been given permission to be in the company of Branca, Scolari’s tone worsened.

He said: “Ask (chief executive) Peter Kenyon, ask (owner) Roman Abramovich. I don’t know, I am only the coach.”

The club were aware that the rumour was circulating throughout yesterday afternoon but were determined not to talk publicly about it. Inter coach Mourinho insists he has no plans to bring his former player to the San Siro despite the latest link.

“I don’t know where Branca was, I was at dinner at Cernobbio,” he said. “I know absolutely nothing about this story."

Drogba was heavily linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in the summer but decided to remain with the Blues.

However, he missed over a month of the season with a knee injury and caused controversy in his comeback match when he threw a coin back at Burnley fans in Chelsea’s Carling Cup defeat – earning himself a three-match ban in the process.

Drogba is still serving that suspension in England but can take part in European competitions and is part of the Chelsea squad in Bordeaux.