Following a downturn in economic conditions, he returned to live with his uncle in Dunkerque, though he continued to move around France as a youngster. It was at this time that he began to play football. In 1991 his parents also travelled to France, moving to Vannes and at the age of fifteen Drogba signed for Levallois F.C. At the time he was living with his cousin, Olivier Tebily, who now plays for Birmingham City. Drogba rose through the ranks at Levallois, playing for them in Ligue 2 aged 18.
Drogba signed for Le Mans in 1998 (aged 19), who at the time were also in Ligue 2. After achieving a professional contract, he had a respectable first season, scoring seven goals. His next two seasons were dogged by injury, though his potential was clearly noted by En Avant Guingamp, who signed him in 2002, taking him up to Ligue 1 (aged 24). Drogba spent one and a half seasons at Guingamp, scoring in his first game and repaying the manager's (Guy Lacombe) faith in him. In his only full season with the club, Drogba scored seventeen goals and helped Guingamp finish seventh, a record high for them. This led to him signing for Olympique de Marseille, one of France's biggest clubs.
Marseille initially struggled, with Alain Perrin, who signed Drogba from Guingamp, being soon replaced by José Anigo. However, Drogba was an outstanding performer, scoring 19 goals and winning the award for French player of the year. He also collected a UEFA Cup runner's up medal, Marseille losing to Valencia in the final. Again he attracted attention from bigger clubs, and at the end of the season he moved to Chelsea as the club's then record signing for £24 million, before the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko for around £30 million in the summer of 2006.
Drogba's transfer, though financially beneficial to the club, would cause a rift between the club's management, specifically club president Christophe Bouchet, and head coach Jose Anigo, who had apparently been assured that he could include Drogba in his plans for the next season. Both Bouchet and Anigo left the club later that same season.
Signing for Chelsea in July 2004, Drogba adapted well to the FA Premier League, scoring in his third game for the club with a thunderous header against Crystal Palace. His season was interrupted when he pulled a stomach muscle against Liverpool, which kept him out of action for over two months. Despite this he enjoyed the second best goals-to-minutes ratio in the Premier League, prolific Frenchman Thierry Henry being the only player to better him in this respect. He scored 16 goals in 40 games for Chelsea in his first season, but was criticized for being inconsistent.
The season proved very successful for Chelsea as they won the Premiership, only their second English top-flight championship and their first in 50 years, and the Carling Cup, with Drogba scoring in extra time in a 3-2 final win against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium. He played an important part in his team's run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, where he scored a brace against ex-club Marseille's arch-rivals Paris Saint-Germain and another two goals in both legs of the quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
Drogba made an impressive start to the 2005-06 season, scoring two goals in a Community Shield win over Arsenal. In both goals, Drogba mercilessly exploited the mistakes of young Swiss defender Philippe Senderos. He also put in man-of-the-match performances in two 4-1 wins, one against Liverpool at Anfield, where he had a part in creating every goal, and another against West Ham United, where he scored the first, provided the second for Hernán Crespo, and played excellently throughout.
Drogba was accused of cheating during Chelsea's 2-0 win over Manchester City, during the 2005-06 season. He appeared to control the ball with his hand, before scoring the second of his two goals. In a post match interview with the BBC, he acknowledged that he had handled the ball and seemingly admitted to cheating, saying, "Sometimes I dive, sometimes I stand," before immediately retracting his comment: "I don't dive, I play my game."
Chelsea went on to retain the league title with two games to play, becoming only the second team to win back-to-back English Premier League championship titles. Ultimately, Drogba finished the 2005-06 season as the top assist provider in the Premier League, with 11 assists according to Actim Stats.
On June 11, 2006, Drogba, who had previously disclosed that he wanted to return to Marseille because he had been demonised by the English media, said that he was ready to extend his contract at Chelsea and looked forward to playing with new team-mates Michael Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and Mikel John Obi.
Furthermore, after the departure of fellow striker Hernán Crespo and winger Damien Duff, and manager Mourinho's decision to switch to a 4-4-2 formation after fielding a 4-3-3 featuring only one out-and-out forward over the past two seasons, Drogba's position in the coming season looked more stable as the first choice striker alongside Andriy Shevchenko.
After the departure of Damien Duff to Newcastle United, Drogba switched from the number 15 shirt he had worn for Chelsea since 2004 to the number 11 shirt vacated by Duff, which he wears for his national team. As of November 2006, Drogba is currently having an amazing start to his season, having scored 14 goals in all competitions for Chelsea. A diving header off a cross from Wayne Bridge against Manchester City opened the floodgates, and was followed by a solo goal against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, an instinctive effort against Charlton Athletic, a stunning twenty yard volley in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool, and a crucial goal poked in against Aston Villa. Drogba also earned a second-half penalty in Chelsea's first Champions League game of the season, a 2-0 home victory over Werder Bremen.
His rich vein of form continued in the Champions League, against Bulgarian side Levski Sofia when he gave Chelsea their first 2006 away win in Europe by scoring his first Chelsea hat-trick, Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League hat-trick, and the first European hat-trick by a Chelsea player since Gianluca Vialli's in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1997. On October 18 in the 46 minute Drogba received a pass from Ashley Cole and scored the winning goal against FC Barcelona in their group match at Stamford Bridge. In the reverse fixture on 31 October 2006, Drogba scored a 93rd minute equaliser which started from a Michael Essien cross directed to Chelsea FC skipper John Terry who in turn headed it back to Drogba at the Nou Camp to earn Chelsea a 2-2 draw against Barcelona.
His rich vein of form continued in the Champions League, against Bulgarian side Levski Sofia when he gave Chelsea their first 2006 away win in Europe by scoring his first Chelsea hat-trick, Chelsea’s first UEFA Champions League hat-trick, and the first European hat-trick by a Chelsea player since Gianluca Vialli's in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1997. On October 18 in the 46 minute Drogba received a pass from Ashley Cole and scored the winning goal against FC Barcelona in their group match at Stamford Bridge. In the reverse fixture on 31 October 2006, Drogba scored a 93rd minute equaliser which started from a Michael Essien cross directed to Chelsea FC skipper John Terry who in turn headed it back to Drogba at the Nou Camp to earn Chelsea a 2-2 draw against Barcelona.
--Wikipedia
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