Now in the twilight of his playing career, at the grand old age of 39, Didier Drogba has announced that he has joined the United Soccer League side, Phoenix Rising.
Phoenix Rising are currently playing in the Western Conference of the USL.
However, it transpires that Didier hasn`t just joined Phoenix Rising as a player, the Ivory Coast and Chelsea legend has also become a co-owner of the club joining what is called the MLS expansion franchise ownership group.
Phoenix Arizona hope to make the leap to MLS status inside the next three years.
Talking about his new role, Didier has remarked to the media,
‘To own a team and be a player at the same time is unusual but it’s going to be very exciting.
‘It’s a good transition because I want to carry on playing but I’m almost 40 and it’s important for me to prepare for my later career.’
But it seems Didier opted for this current role, despite offers from elsewhere, further commenting,
‘I had offers from China, from England – in both the Premier League and even the Championship – but they were only as a player.
‘This was the right offer because it was important for me to think about playing, because I enjoy it, but also to get to the next stage of my career.’
And as for being a player and co-owner when it comes to playing, Didier further added,
‘I’m still a player but it’s important to respect the decision of the manager.
‘When we’re on the pitch, he’s going to be the one who decides and when we go to board meetings, it’s a different thing.’
Another with Chelsea connections currently on the books of Phoenix Rising is one Shaun Wright-Phillips, with the club starting the new season not that well winning 1 game and losing 2, hopefully the arrival of the player who scored 157 goals and made 341 appearances when playing in his prime during his first spell at Chelsea, can bring that something extra to the club.
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