BAK
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- Feb 11, 2007
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Didier Drogba leaves Chelsea for second time
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is leaving the club for a second time.
He was carried off by the entire Chelsea team as he was substituted in the first half of his final game against Sunderland on Sunday.
Drogba, 37, first signed for the club in 2004 and has scored a total of 164 goals in 381 appearances.
"I want to play for at least one more season and in order to play more football I feel I need to go to another club," he told Chelsea's website.
Drogba scored a late equaliser and the decisive spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho re-signed the Ivorian in 2014 on a one-year deal after he left Galatasaray as a free agent.
Voted the club's greatest ever player in a fans' poll in 2012, Drogba then had a spell with Shanghai Shenhua in China before helping Galatasaray to a Turkish league title in 2013 and the Champions League knockout stages in 2014 - where they lost to Chelsea.
Drogba has scored seven times in his final season for Chelsea
He returned to Stamford Bridge to "make more history" and this season collected his fourth Premier League winner's medal and third League Cup medal.
Drogba, who signed from Marseille for £24m, has now won 12 trophies in two spells at Chelsea.
[TABLE="class: data-table"]
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[TH="class: left first"]Drogba's career at Chelsea
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[TD="class: left first"]Debut: v Manchester United, 15 August 2004
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[TD="class: left first"]First goal: v Crystal Palace, 24 August 2004
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[TR]
[TD="class: left first"]Appearances: 381
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[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"]Goals: 164
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[TR]
[TD="class: left first"]Honours: Premier League: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2009-10, 2014-15; FA Cup: 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2011-12; League Cup: 2004-05, 2006-07, 2014-15; Champions League: 2011-12
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[TR="class: row2"]
[TD="class: left first"]Premier League top goalscorer: 2007, 2010
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He added: "All the fans know my love for Chelsea and I hope to be back here in the future in another role.
"This group of players gave me the best present. I came back and have won the league and today is a big celebration. We deserve it."
Manager Jose Mourinho said that "Didier belongs to us" when he re-signed him for Chelsea in July 2014
The Didier Drogba banner at Stamford Bridge
Drogba's penalty won the Champions League for the first time in Chelsea's history in 2012
Didier Drogba's 36 goals for Chelsea in European competition remains a club record, as do his nine strikes in nine cup finals
