He is also the player with the most runner-up appearances (4), most third-place finishes (3), and most times in the top three (9).Īfter playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans, and signed his first professional contract aged 21.
Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the award in 20. He is regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time and was noted for his physical strength, speed, ability in the air, powerful and accurate strikes, and ball retention. Drogba was named Chelsea's greatest ever player in a poll of 20,000 fans conducted by Chelsea FC Magazine in 2012, and he was also named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea's fans in 2020. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. *Club domestic league appearances and goalsĭidier Yves Drogba Tébily ( French pronunciation: born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker.