A year after Didier Drogba rejected a proposed $10 million annual salary from MLS – a windfall that would’ve been by far the richest in the league’s history – the star striker now is interested in coming stateside. But if he does, it won’t be to New York.
The Red Bulls had put in a discovery claim on Drogba last year, along with one on Kaka. But while a source within MLS confirmed that there is still right now considerable interest in bringing the 35-year-old Ivorian forward to the league, the Red Bulls “are not involved in this proposed deal” and Drogba is “not on their radar.’’
It’s unclear which team is on Drogba’s radar, but one seemingly is. And the Galatasaray forward seems to have had at least passing interest in MLS for awhile.
Last season, Drogba – Chelsea’s 2011-12 UEFA Champions League hero, and a two-time African Footballer of the Year – turned down a huge offer from MLS that would’ve far surpassed the record $6.5 million earned by L.A. Galaxy icon David Beckham or the $5.6 million Red Bull captain Thierry Henry made last year.
“We offered Didier Drogba, the great Chelsea player, over $10 million a year to play. It would have been the largest salary we ever had in Major League Soccer, and he signed (with Shanghai) for €18 million ($22.7 million) net,” MLS commissioner Don Garber had said last September at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit here in New York.
After Drogba signed with Shanghai Shenhua, he was quoted in SuperSport as saying “If I’m able to achieve my objectives at the end of my contract with Shanghai Shenhua in 2014, I’d love to attempt another adventure, maybe in the United States.
“I had some proposals last summer but they all looked like what I had in England. I wanted to move far way to another culture. I’ll be 37 then and I think I can still play because I’m always a young man in front of the ball.’’
After scoring eight goals in 11 games, and finding out that playing in China isn’t quite what he expected, Drogba moved on to Galatasaray. Now, reportedly he could be itching to leave Turkey already, and MLS is a possible landing spot. But if it is, he won’t be landing in New York with the Red Bulls.