´Emotional´ Drogba admits Chelsea reunion will be difficult

Galatasaray striker Didier Drogba admits he will be “emotional” when he comes up against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

The Ivorian is likely to feature when the sides meet in their last-16 first-leg clash at the Turk Telekom Arena, coming up against his former club for the first time since leaving in 2012.

Drogba expects it to be a difficult reunion, but insists that he is fully focused on the task at hand.

“It’s nice to play against your old team, but when you are emotional, like me, it’s going to be difficult,” he told the British press. “I have to be professional and respect the shirt I am wearing.”

The fixture will also be a chance for Drogba to catch up with the man who brought him to Stamford Bridge, with Jose Mourinho having returned to Chelsea from Real Madrid last year.

“I took a risk to go and play for Jose when I left Marseille,” he continued. “Three years before that I was in the second division. This guy comes and says: ‘You have to come with me. You are a good player, but if you want to be the best like Thierry Henry then you have to come and play for me’.

“I first saw Jose at a Porto-Marseille game six or seven months before that. In the tunnel, he slapped me on the back and said: ‘Do you have some brothers who play like you?’ I said: ‘There’s a lot in Africa who are better than me’.”

The 35-year-old’s contract with Gala is set to expire at the end of the season, but he is intent on extending his career, and even hinted at a return to the Premier League.

“I’m here and playing,” he added. “My contract ends this summer, then I will decide what’s best.

“It’s impossible to stop time but it’s possible with your intelligence on the pitch and with your experience to play at a high level even for two or three more years.

“Put me in the Premier League and give me a few months. I feel young. I still feel like a kid running after the ball.”