Drogba appreciates life at Chelsea

Drogba has often been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge (GETTY IMAGES)

Didier Drogba seems to have spent most of his five years as a Chelsea player wishing he was somewhere else. His belligerent presence up front has often been undermined by his predilection for the 'grass is greener' mentality.

Somehow, Drogba has always seemed dissatisfied with life at Stamford Bridge. From almost the word go, following his £24m move from Marseille in the summer of 2004, he was pining to leave.

He was homesick; then he was missing Jose Mourinho; then he fell out with Luiz Felipe Scolari. Drogba seemed convinced his destiny lay elsewhere, with one of the grand old clubs of the European game, almost anyone other than Chelsea.

The Ivorian has played more 'last games' for the club than anyone in Stamford Bridge history. His red card in the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United was deemed to have been the last straw.

Then Drogba's foul-mouthed tirade at TV cameras in the aftermath of Chelsea's acrimonious exit to Barcelona at the semi-final stage of the same competition last season was again deemed to have sealed his fate. Yet he remained.

Four months on from his infamous outburst, for which he has been given a three-match ban, Drogba is back leading the attack for Chelsea, having signed a new three-year deal.

At 31, he may finally have settled at Chelsea, after both he and the club accept the logic that this is as good as it's probably going to get.

Drogba didn't score in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the FA Community Shield, but his performance in an unfashionable front pairing with Nicolas Anelka suggested he could be on for a memorable season. Afterwards Drogba admitted life at Chelsea, on £100,000 a week, isn't so bad after all.

"For me the most important thing is to enjoy being on the pitch. I have a lot of friends in France without teams, without contracts so I know how lucky I am to be here and I want to enjoy it," Drogba said.

"I have been playing at a high level only since I was 25. So in my head I still feel young. I am feeling good. I want to play and I am really happy to be on the pitch and to have my team-mates. I want to give people a good season."