| Didier Drogba is a great believer in fate. It is fate, he reasons, that saved him that day in the Paris banlieue of Levallois-Perret and it is fate that has made him into, probably, the world’s greatest centre-forward.
And it is fate, also, that will mean he leads the attack at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea on Sunday rather than, as so nearly occurred, Arsenal.
Terry : Abramovich wants to win the lot “If I did not sign for Arsenal then it was not meant to happen,” Drogba says. “It was not my destiny. I believe a lot in this. It did not happen for a reason.”
In any case, he argues, Arsenal did not suffer through losing out on him. “I don’t think he [Arsène Wenger] missed something because he had Thierry Henry.”
Drogba is standing in the smart new complex of the Levallois Sporting Club having just had the football stadium in the industrial suburb named after him.
He has clearly been overwhelmed by the events of the day just as he was overwhelmed, literally, by the human sea of children, teenagers and adults who clung to him as he toured the grounds, edging his way through. He was affected, even a little afraid.
It was in 2001 that Wenger thought of signing Drogba. He has told the story himself, a sign that even the greatest talent-spotters are fallible. Drogba had, by then, moved from Levallois to Le Mans — where Wenger mulled his move — and was available for just £100,000.
Wenger said ‘non’ and Drogba went to Guingamp, then Marseille and, of course, Chelsea in 2004. By then the fee was £23.8 million. There is a swell of pride as Drogba recalls the dividend the move brought for Levallois who, as his designated club formateur, received a percentage of the fee.
And so Patrick Balkany, the mayor of Levallois, received a cheque for €700,000 to reinvest in the club.
“There were a lot of young boys and it was a long time ago,” Balkany says when asked if he remembers Drogba. “But I remember when I received a cheque from Chelsea. A big one, from Mr Abramovich, for the transfer.”
Balkany was at the ceremony, as was Repcic, now coaching the club’s under-eights. Drogba did not forget. “I owe him a great deal,” he wrote in his autobiography, published in 2008, of the Serb, a former striker with Red Star Belgrade.
“His credo: ‘you must live for the goal’. He made me happy to score. I was desperate to learn alongside him.”
Repcic’s pride was clear and he, too, was insightful into the motivations which drive Drogba. “He always had a fighting spirit,” he recalls. “In his first season here Didier was only paid if we won.
The bonus was around €200, which was a lot of money for him, but if we lost he got nothing. He always hated losing and used to cry with rage. He cried after every match we lost.” That emotional intensity remains.
Drogba joined Levallois, semi-professional and in the French fourth division, when he was 15 having been sent to France 10 years earlier from the Ivory Coast to live with his uncle, Michel Goba, a jobbing footballer himself.
“I spent four years here and they were the most important club in terms of my development,” Drogba says. “It helped me build up my career and be at Chelsea today and be at the level I am at.”
There is warmth in his words, far removed from the hard edge of the Premier League. “You get something from amateur teams that are, in professional football, sometimes lost – they are more selfish,” Drogba says.
“In an amateur team you always share things, you always travel together because there is not enough money and that’s why also I always think about these teams because they are very important to me.
“When I signed from Marseille to Chelsea and I heard that they had a percentage of the transfer here that helped the club to survive then that was fantastic. It’s amazing what they built.
“I am very proud of what I have achieved over the last few years. Why should I change? Most people have known me for years and it’s not because you have signed for Chelsea or another big team that you have to change. That is only for a moment. You have to stay who you are because there is a life after football.”
With his life in football, Drogba knows that, after last weekend’s defeat to Manchester City, Chelsea have to beat Arsenal. He, also, has an astonishing record of 12 goals in 12 matches against them to maintain.
Is it because of the French link? “I’m not trying to use this as a motivation although it’s nice for the players who come from the French league to play against Arsenal because Arsenal is the team of the French league,” Drogba explains.
“They all went there – Sylvain Wiltord, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira. They used to say that it was the 21st team of Ligue One and that is why when the players from France play against Arsenal they want to perform … but the only thing that I really hope is that we are going to win. We have to win.”
Drogba's Arsenal dozen
1.FA Community Shield, 2005: Drogba scores his first of the season with an outstanding volley.
2.Community Shield, 2005: Drogba makes it 2-0 and though Fabregas replies, Chelsea win the Shield.
3.Premier League, Aug 21, 2005: A fluke goal, with the ball coming off Drogba’s knee, gives Chelsea victory.
4.Carling Cup final, 2007: After Theo Walcott gives Arsenal the lead Drogba replies, but was he offside?
5.Carling Cup final, 2007: A fiery final is won by Drogba with a header in the 84th minute.
6.Premier League, March 23, 2008: Sagna’s goal gives Arsenal the lead, but Drogba replies with a low drive.
7.Premier League, March 23, 2008: Drogba gets the 83rd minute winner as Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal.
8.FA Cup semi-final, 2009: Florent Malouda scores first and Drogba seals victory in the 84th minute.
9.Premier League, Nov 29, 2009: Chelsea go to the Emirates and Drogba opens the scoring.
10.Premier League, Nov 29, 2009: After a Vermaelen own goal extends Chelsea’s lead, Drogba completes the scoring from a free-kick.
11.Premier League, Feb 7, 2010: Drogba gives Chelsea the lead, after eight minutes.
12.Premier League, Feb 7, 2010: Drogba scores his and the game’s second goal.
Didier Drogba: signing for Chelsea rather than Arsenal was my destiny
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