And just like that, it seems like one of the most intriguing and important storylines of the offseason has come to a happy end for the Montreal Impact.
Superstar forward Didier Drogba tweeted from his personal account that he's off to do prep work for preseson with the Quebec club:
Drogba, who had 11 goals in 11 games after joining up with the Impact in late summer, had been the subject of intense speculation after an approach from Chelsea of the English Premier League. The Cote d'Ivoire international spent nine seasons in West London, scoring 164 goals across all competitions in that span and leading the team to their first ever UEFA Champions League title.
Earlier this winter French sports publication L'Équipe reported that, according to sources, the Blues wanted Drogba to return to Stamford Bridge as a coach, and that as a result the 37-year-old had called the Impact to announce his retirement.
Drogba and the Impact, however, both denied that such a decision had been made.
Now it looks like words and deeds have aligned. The Montreal Gazettereported that Drogba is expected to join up with the Impact for the second half of preseason in St. Petersburg, Fla. for the last two weeks of February.
Montreal went 7-3-1 with Drogba in the lineup during the regular season, and just 8-10-5 without him.
The rest of the Montreal roster report for camp early next week.
