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Didier Drogba an impact signing at Montreal Impact

By on July 27, 2015

Didier Drogba is joining the brigade of international football stars moving to Major League Soccer and is naturally aiming to make a big impact on football in the region. Indeed Drogba one-upped everybody else in that respect by taking it literally and joining the Montreal “Impact” from Premier League champions Chelsea. Although Montreal finished bottom of the table last season, Drogba lifted the UEFA Champions League in 2012, and just might be able to turn the Impact’s fortunes around in friendly francophone environs. The Ivorian record goal-scorer already has had a go in the Chinese and Turkish Super Leagues when he previously left West London, with his short spells at Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, respectively. Along with Drogba, Richard Lewis takes a look at some of MLS’ newest additions below:

You can teach an Old Drog new tricks!

Drogba may now be at the ripe, old age of thirty-secord, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a few tricks left up his selves to delight the Montreal fans. He leaves Jose Mourinho’s team with the ambition for more game time in the States (more specifically northwards in Canada — but then again Welsh club Swansea play in the English top flight!) and the final chance to show his abilities in a new division. His MLS move comes despite his stated desire to play again for French club Marseille again before he retired from the game.

While wearing the famous number eleven shirt at Stamford Bridge, Drogba played 381 games and won four Premier League titles across two spells with the London club. He became synonymous with scoring, particularly at Wembley Stadium, usually in the process of winning the FA Cup. The Blues have signed Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco to replace him for the 2015/2016 campaign, plus they still have Frenchman Loic Remy on their books and young players like Dominic Solanke coming through the system. Yet nothing can quite fill the grace and brute all packed into one pair of shoes that Drogba leaves unoccupied. Both literally and figuratively his replacement will have a tall order to fill his boots, given Drogba has the same shoe size as Peter Crouch.

Drogba will be a designated player, which means the majority of his wages won’t be counted against the MLS salary cap. The strong forward bagged sixty-five goals in 105 international appearances and follows former Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard to the MLS.

The MLS All-Stars will actually be brimming with more stars than their opponent over the next few years, with Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Villa, Giovinco, Andrea Pirlo, Robbie Keane, Kaka, Drogba, and Giovanni dos Santos all joining in recent summers. Lampard scored in the 2008 Champions League final, Villa fired in the third goal in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United in 2011, and Drogba scored and ultimately bagged the tournament winning penalty kick a year later in Germany to beat Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League. He may have lost a yard or two of pace over the years, but he is like a Drog with a bone when holding the ball up to bring others into play.

Brothers in Arms!

Lampard and Drogba will be reunited in MLS but that’s small fish compared to the Wright-Phillips brothers. Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips will actually be brothers in arms lining up together for the New York Red Bulls.

All the club needs to do now is to bring Arsenal legend and father Ian Wright on as a coach to complete the family reunion. Shaun, the thirty-three-year-old former Chelsea winger who made thirty-six England first team appearances, has made the move to New York following nearly four seasons at Queens Park Rangers, where he suffered from the ups and downs of promotion and relegation. He has also had spells at Manchester City and made a total of 299 Premier League appearances in his career. His thirty-year-old brother made the switch to the US in 2013 and has scored forty-one goals in sixty-three appearances for the club. Now, however, might we see some brotherly competition?

Photo credit: rayand, via Flickr

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.