It is official. After a successful eight years at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have announced on their official website that Didier Drogba will leave the club when his contract expires in June. The powerful Ivorian amassed an impressive 154 goals in 341 appearances for the Blues, etching himself into Chelsea folklore for years to come. But having shown he can still provide the difference in recent weeks, why have the club taken the decision to allow him to leave the club?

Drogba signed from Marseille for £24 million in the summer of 2004 and instantly became a key part of the Chelsea team that charged to their first league title in 50 years under Jose Mourinho. His domineering attitude and powerful presence gave defenders nightmares and the striker went on to accumulate another two Premier League titles, four FA Cup and three League Cup winners’ medals as well as a Champions League trophy as recently as last Saturday.

His goals propelled him into the hearts of the Chelsea fans but some of his on-field antics won just as many critics during his time in England. Accused of going to ground to easily and a petulant manner, even the most ardent Blues fan will admit to had been frustrated by the Ivorian’s occasional shenanigans. At times he appeared to be among the best in the world but he could just as readily be seen as a sullen striker, unwilling to perform when things did not go his way, and this season has perhaps displayed that more than any.

There was a bright sense of optimism around the club in August 2011 as Andre Villas-Boas began his new job as manager of the west-London club. Charged with the intention of displacing the ageing core of the first team in John Terry, Frank Lampard and Drogba, Villas-Boas found himself outmuscled in a changing room that lacked support for the implementation of change. Drogba found himself on the fringes of the team and his frequently negative body language failed to hide his discontent at this new role within the club.

The Portuguese manager failed to manage the transition positively and was shown the door in February. His replacement, Roberto Di Matteo, turned the fortunes around by reinstating the previously marginalised players. Chelsea managed to end the season on a high, winning both the FA Cup and Champions League with Drogba keeping up his record of scoring in every final he played in for the club. Yet the club now find themselves back at square one; relying on the influential players that they sought to remove. They have now decided it is time to let the influential striker go, and it appears to be justified.

Despite being key to winning the double this season, Drogba equalled his worst goal return in a Premier League season as he netted a measly five times. That is fewer than joint top scorers Daniel Sturridge and Lampard as well as fellow striker Fernando Torres. While his ratio of goals to games in Europe this season was better by far with six goals in eight appearances, it pointed to a decline in the consistency of the striker’s performances.

Of his five league goals this term, just one came against a team in the top half. While Drogba may be able to pull out a fantastic performance when it is required, the evidence suggests that he can no longer maintain the game-winning performances that made him a fan favourite on a regular basis

Drogba was inspirational in the 2009/10 double-winning campaign when he scored 29 league goals, but he has since failed to come close to such figures. As one of the club’s top earners, the harsh reality is that you are expected to perform at your best every week, not only on the big occasions. Whilst such experience is vital in achieving success Drogba has become somewhat of a luxury item; expensive to keep but ready to perform when needed most. However, it is simply not feasible for the club to retain such a lavish player and at 34-years-old his time is now up.

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His presence at the club will no doubt be sorely missed and he will not soon be forgotten. It may not have been his finest season as a whole in the Blue of Chelsea, but the original remit for the club’s season was to phase out the ageing members of the squad and so despite his FA Cup and Champions League heroics, Drogba departed.

Do you think Chelsea were right to let Drogba go? Let me know on Twitter.

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Croatia is the latest nation to feel the wrath of UEFA, who having already fined them £20,000 due to the unruly behaviour of their supporters in their opening game against the Republic of Ireland, are now investigating claims that a large section of their fans were racially abusing Mario Balotelli in the recent game against Italy. A banana was thrown onto the pitch and a section of around 500 Croatian fans were reportedly involved in repeated racist chanting towards the Manchester City striker.

Elsewhere in the news Roy Hodgson hails England’s comeback; Shay Given hits out at Roy Keane’s criticism, while Damien Comolli is linked with Spurs return.

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Headlines

Roy Hodgson hailed the performance of his front men against Sweden, with Theo Walcott singled out for special praise following his contribution from the bench – [Guardian]

Theo Walcott believes there is more to come from him and has hailed the spirit within the England squad – [Guardian]

Shay Given has hit back at Roy Keane following stinging criticism towards the Republic of Ireland team – [Guardian]

Damien Comolli has been linked with a surprise return to Tottenham Hotspur as the club contemplate a new management structure – [Daily Telegraph]

Wales legend John Toshack provided the ringing endorsement that Michael Laudrup needed in order to get the Swansea job – [Daily Telegraph]

Liverpool owner has played down the financial impact of a new stadium will have on the football club –[ Independent]

Michael Owen is set to snub a move to Everton in favour of a switch to Stoke City –[ Daily Mail]

Chelsea is set to battle it out with Newcastle United for French right back Mathieu Debuchy -[ Mirror]

Owen Hargreaves has admitted that he may well consider retirement from the game at the age of 31, following his long term battle with knee injuries -[ Sun]

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Arsenal is leading the chase to sign Real Madrid’s 22-year-old striker-[ TalkSport]

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PLEASE NOTE – Click on the sources above the view the original articles

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The transfer window is open and the managers of the Premier League clubs have their summer plans well underway. There hasn’t been much movement so far as the sides bide their time to see who’s available and at what price. However, the July 1st deadline for contract expiry has passed, meaning many players can now be picked up on free transfers.

With the Financial Fair Play regulations coming in next season, the top clubs are looking to be more prudent in how they operate. Even Manchester City are reluctant to open the chequebook to pay the extortionate transfer fees and wages that never bothered them before. To satisfy the club’s desires for cautious spending, there are many bargains to be had in the transfer market this summer and here are 15 of the ones that will be the subject of much attention in the coming weeks:

Click on Junior Hoilett to unveil the 15 transfer bargains

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So, that time of the year has arrived.

We’re already salivating at the prospect of the new Football League starting again, yet it’s still just out of our grasp and we have to get our fix from the inevitable list of friendly games that are played out in order for our boys to gain some match fitness.

I know that there’s the endless debate about how much you can read into pre-season games. I know that if you win against ‘lower’ opposition then it’s expected and you should be winning, but if you lose then “It’s just a friendly”.

Funnily enough, I also know that if you beat ‘higher’ opposition then you can’t get carried away because “It’s just a friendly” but if you lose, then it’s expected, you should be losing.

Anyway, we’ve had four games of our pre-season campaign so far and we currently have a record of two wins, one defeat and one draw. In my view, the results aren’t really worth looking at, however, what is worth looking at is the fact that a number of players have been praised for the way that they’ve been playing and that some of the new boys are already looking promising.

Our first game saw us take on Stocksbridge Park Steels, a non-league team, in which we finished the game four goals to the good and that saw our recently acquired Scotland international, Chris Maguire, bag two, our new number nine, Gary Madine, snatch one and youngster, Patrick Antelmi grab a fourth. The fact is, yes, we should be winning that game anyway, however, it is nice to see the boys doing so with such conviction.

Next up for the blue and white wizards was Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest football club. Despite dominating possession for practically the full 90 minutes and Chris O’Grady giving the Owls a deserved lead, SFC’s Dan Williams popped up 15 minutes from the end to earn the home team a draw against a heavily altered second-half Wednesday outfit.

With the two local games done and dusted, Dave Jones’ men, along with a number of loyal Wednesdayites, made the trip to Portugal for a couple of games against ‘bigger’ opposition, 18-time Portuguese champions, Sporting Lisbon, and Premier League new boys, Reading.

While we did suffer a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sporting, thanks to goals from Andre Martins and the very talented young forward with a tremendous name, Ricky van Wolfwinkel, it wasn’t a bad result for a Wednesday side. Especially given that we made a lot of changes, as did they, and that we didn’t have any of our own goalkeepers between the sticks.

Finally, our most recent encounter, against Reading, saw the same result as previous game, however this time it was in our favour. I mean yes, we can’t read too much into a friendly win over Premier League opposition, however goals from Mike Jones and another for Chris O’Grady will give the squad a massive lift ahead of the weekend’s game against Doncaster.

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Like I said, you can’t look into pre-season games too much. You can mourn the defeats and celebrate the victories, however, it all goes out of the window when you actually enter into a game when both teams really give a damn.

For us our first ‘proper’ game will come against Kieran Lee’s old side, Oldham Athletic in the Capital One Cup on August 13th, before that we’ll be meeting Donny, West Brom and Kilmarnock. Undoubtedly I’ll be taking all of those with a pinch of salt, however, if we put in a good performance against Oldham and get a win then maybe, just maybe, I’ll allow myself to start getting a little bit giddy.

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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has stated that Andy Carroll will not be going on loan.

The England international has been linked with a move away from Anfield, but the new Reds manager has stated that he will not be allowed to leave on a temporary basis.

“There has been a lot written and spoken about him but first and foremost Andy is a Liverpool player,” Rodgers told the LFC official website.

“To consider a loan period for someone the club spent £35million on isn’t something we’re looking to do at this moment in time.

“Andy will be the same as every other player – if there’s ever an offer that comes in we’d look at it as a club and see if it’s going to be worthwhile for the club and the team as a whole.

“The club invested £35million in him. People talk about whether he can fit into my style or not, but if you’re a club and you spend £35million on a player you’d like to think he can fit into whatever style the team plays.

“He’s a good player. He’ll join the rest of the group next week and we’ll take it from there,” he confirmed.

Meanwhile, Rodgers has also admitted that his side are interested in Fulham forward Clint Dempsey.

“Clint is a player we’ve enquired about, it is as simple as that.

“Ian Ayre, our managing director, has spoken with the club to see what the position is. That is where we’re at.

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“He’s a very talented player but we don’t like to talk about other clubs’ players,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes looks set to join Blackburn Rovers after the clubs agreed a deal that could be worth up to £8 million, according to the BBC.

The Scot is due for a medical at Ewood Park today, having already agreed a four-year deal with the Championship new boys. The move is expected to be completed within the next 24 hours.

Steve Kean has been chasing the 22-year-old all summer, and will be delighted to have finally made a breakthrough with the deal for a striker who scored 40 goals for Huddersfield last season.

It is understood the fee will be paid across the duration of the contract, with add-ons expected should Rhodes help Blackburn to promotion.

Kean is desperate to add to his squad before the transfer window slams shut on Friday, having lost new signing Leon Best to a long-term injury.

Rhodes has already bagged three goals for club and country this season, including a first international goal during Scotland’s 3-1 friendly victory over Australia.

Huddersfield have released a statement explaining they are expect to lose Rhodes for a club record fee, with their previous highest being £2.5 million from Ipswich for Marcus Stewart in 2000.

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Rhodes will be hoping to be available for Blackburn as soon as this weekend. Steve Kean’s side have made a decent start to life in the Championship and are unbeaten after their first three games.

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Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has revealed that he has some regrets about not bringing former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie to Turin in the summer, the Daily Mail report.

Despite missing out on the Dutchman, Marotta believes his club have done well in the summer transfer window and claims that Manchester

United overpaid for van Persie who was in the final year of his contract at Arsenal.

“I have regrets about Van Persie, but it would have been a bad choice for the club if we had paid €30million for a player who would have seen his contract expire next year,’ Marotta told Tuttosport.

“We are happy with the business we were able to carry out.”

“We hit our targets with the acquisition of good, young players with reasonable salaries – (Kwadwo) Asamoah, (Mauricio) Isla and (Sebastian) Giovinco.”

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Juventus did however sign one Arsenal player in the transfer window as Nicklas Bendtner joined them on a season long loan from the Gunners with a view to a permanent deal if the loan is a success.

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Steven Fletcher has stated his willingness to return to international duty next month.

The Scotland international has been absent since a public falling out with manager Craig Levein following a late international withdrawal from the Sunderland striker.

Scotland face Wales and Belgium in World Cup qualifying next month, with the £14 million man ideal to lead the line for the Tartan Army should he solve his differences with Levein.

When asked on Twitter whether he would return to the international stage, the 25 year old simply replied, “yes”.

However The Daily Mail report that bridges have been burned as SFA insiders claim it is too late for Fletcher to reconcile with the ex-Dundee United boss, having already turned down opportunities to represent Scotland since his falling out with the manager.

The Former Wolves and Burnley man has settled instantly on Wearside netting all three shots he’s taken in red and white,  following his transfer from the Black Country. While Fletcher is relishing life up-front for Sunderland, it remains a problem area for Scotland, who so far have kept faith in Kenny Miller, despite the 32 year old showing signs of decline last year at Cardiff and now playing in Vancouver.

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Stoke boss Tony Pulis believes his side deserve more points than they have earned from their opening Premier League fixtures.

The Potters are still searching for their first win after last Saturday’s narrow 1-0 defeat at Chelsea followed draws against Reading, Arsenal, Wigan and Manchester City. But Pulis is refusing to panic by their failure to earn a victory and remains optimistic that his team’s fortunes will change in the near future. The Welshman felt they were on the receiving end of some dubious decisions at Stamford Bridge, but hopes luck will be on their side when they host Swansea on Saturday. He told Sky Sports:

“We are just hoping and praying that we get a bit of luck. Our performances this year have probably deserved more points than we have got, but that is the way it goes at times. You want to win every game and get as many points as you possibly can as quickly as you can. If we keep playing the way we are playing, and we get a little bit of good fortune, that will come.”

Daniel Agger says a tattoo of Liverpool’s motto on his right hand shows he is “proud” of playing at Anfield, after agreeing to extend his contract with the club till 2016.

Agger got the letters of ‘YNWA’, standing for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ tattooed onto his knuckles during the summer, and despite Barcelona and Manchester City being interested in him, he insists he has never wanted to change clubs.

“I’m proud to be here and I think my knuckles show that. As I said, I feel a part of this club and I feel a part of this city. I’ve been here so long now, so it was an easy decision,” Agger said.

The deal is a relief for Liverpool, after it started to look like Agger wanted to move. It was reported in his home country of Denmark that Barcelona would be the one club he would leave Anfield for, and he was thought to have a difficult relationship with boss Brendan Rodgers, something which intensified when he was not included in the team picked to play in a Europa League qualifier. Manchester city manager Roberto Mancini was also keen to sign the centre-half.

However, Agger says that he enjoys being under Rodgers’ management.

“I’m enjoying life under the new manager. I really like it and I’m happy every day going into training. I feel we have a good team, a good mentality and a style of good football that I want to play,” he added.

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Agger signed for Liverpool in 2006.