Didier Drogba: How Could Chelsea Not Re-Sign Superstar Ivorian Striker?

In the delirium that comes with a Champions League triumph, several key questions will be asked at Stamford Bridge in the coming weeks.

Probably the most pertinent and well-publicised query will be as to whether or not Chelsea should offer current caretaker manager, Roberto Di Matteo, the role on a permanent basis.

However, if there were a question to rival that, it would most definitely be: How could Chelsea not offer Didier Drogba a new long-term contract?

Were it not for the contributions of the Ivorian international this season, Chelsea may well have found themselves in considerably murkier waters as far as the league is concerned, not to mention that they would near certainly be down a UEFA Champions League title.

Nobody will be protesting that the Blues won the tournament in the slickest of styles, but it has often been said that the sign of a good team is one that can play badly and still win matches. In that regard, Saturday’s victory in Munich could not be more apt.

Resilience, fortitude and stamina were all shown in decent proportion by Roberto Di Matteo’s men, as the Blues lifted the European Cup for the first time in club history after they came from behind to eventually beat Bayern Munich on penalties.

Football is a team sport in every sense but, as touched upon earlier, none of this would have been possible without one player in particular: Didier Drogba.

The 34-year-old was on hand to upset the odds in the 88^th minute of the final when, after Thomas Müller had put Die Bayern into the lead just minutes earlier, the Ivorian international headed home an equaliser to send the game into extra-time.

Drogba was always going to have a difficult time on the night, playing practically on his own against a stern Bayern Munich defence that boasted the best record in the Bundesliga when playing at the Allianz Arena in the 2011-12 league campaign.

The striker had Juan Mata, Salomon Kalou and an out-of-position Ryan Bertrand as attacking reinforcement for the majority of the match. But with no other forwards there to help, Drogba’s role was one that consisted of holding play up so that the attack could gain momentum.

And what a job he did.

Despite his ripe old age, the prolific goal scorer showed just why he has been one of the Premier League’s most accomplished talents of the past eight years, using all of his experience in a way that only someone of his stature and confidence can.

How apt it is then, that when the game eventually went to a shootout, it would be Didier Drogba that struck home the decisive penalty that ensured the European Champion League trophy would be jetting back to London and not staying in its current location of Munich.

The examples of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs playing well into their older years has been excessively used as of late, but for good reason.

The Manchester United duo, 37 and 38 years of age respectively, have shown in recent seasons that tiring legs doesn’t necessarily equal a tiring, and therefore less valuable talent.

To put things bluntly, if someone’s has it, they have it.

Talent isn’t a thing that is simply lost. Talent isn’t a set of car keys, and it certainly isn’t a distant relative’s birthday that suddenly slips away from you at one stage or another.

Paolo Maldini, Javier Zanetti, Walter Samuel, Edwin van der Sar and Clarence Seedorf are all recent examples of footballers to play well into their 30s at the top-flight level and, with exception to Van der Sar, show that a zimmer frame isn’t quite required to run at those ages.

If the news regarding the transfer talk so far is to be believed, the current situation is that Didier Drogba has rejected a 12-month extension placed before him at Stamford Bridge, as he would prefer a longer two-year deal.

My question would be: Why not give it to him?

With 13 goals in 25 starts this season, Drogba clearly still has at least a glimmer of that sparkle that made him such a hit earlier in the 2000s, and even that is considerable.

Should he not pen a new deal in West London, the forward is being hotly tipped for a lucrative move to China that would surely signal the end of his elite career and instead begin a retirement era and pension plan.

It would be a shame to lose such talent to such a needless cause. Roman Abramovich embraced his asset after the Russian’s side clinched the Champions League title for the first time, giving an image of solidarity and teamwork between the pair.

However, the oil tycoon would never have gotten to the position he is in now without at least some skill in the art of bluffing.

The crude mathematics of the scenario are that Chelsea may lose Drogba to another club for nothing this summer. His contract is set to expire in July, and that means they would only be entitled to a compensation fee of peanuts in the grand scheme of things.

The alternative is that Abramovich gives Drogba the contract that one could argue he thoroughly deserves and keep a striker with a God-given knack for scoring goals at Stamford Bridge.

Was it my choice, I know which route I’d be taking.

That being said, it isn’t my choice and there may be many more stipulations and clerical grievances that we are overlooking.

Petr Cech was vital in keeping the ball out of the net for Chelsea in this weekend’s epic encounter, saving an extra-time penalty that was actually conceded by Drogba for a foul in the box on Franck Ribery.

The Ivorian was just as (if not more) important in putting the ball in the net however. In the nine Cup finals that the hitman has played a part in during his Chelsea tenure, Drogba has scored in all of them.

I’d love to tell you that talent like that cannot be purchased but the truth is that in today’s market, it can. The beauty of Chelsea’s current dilemma, you ask? They already have this talent at the club.

Everyone wants to have a cool, hip and attractive team, but in the end, when the light at the end of the tunnel seems most dim, it’s clutch footballers like Didier Drogba that can step up and lead men in their time of need.

It was former MLB pitcher, Leroy “Satchel” Paige that said, “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

Paige unfortunately passed away on June 8, 1982, but nearly 30 years on from his death, his words couldn’t ring more true than with Didier Drogba.