Chelsea legend Didier Drogba’s move to Australia has failed, according to reports.
The player was set to move to South Melbourne to experience football on another continent, having previously played in France, England, China, and America.
The move had to be cancelled as the club were yet to finalize their plans of joining the A-League as the required paperwork from the Football Federation Australia was not yet done. Hence, South Melbourne would not be able to compete in the top football league until 2018/19. This reportedly made the former Ivory Coast skipper cancel the deal despite being clubless since his exit from Montreal Impact in the Major League Soccer late last year.
The 38-year old still wants football action for a while before he retires professionally and seems to be on the hunt for a new experience despite being well travelled as a football player.
“We were pretty close. Terms were agreed, but where we had difficulty was with keeping him interested during the period in which we could not play in the A-League, assuming we are successful in our bid. he bid process is unclear because FFA have not released the criteria for entry,” the club’s advisory board chair Bill Papastergiadis said about the deal.
Had the criteria been out and the club sure of clinching the deal the UEFA Champions winner could have been sure to play in the other part of the world, before possibly retiring there.
“Originally that was going to be in February but I don’t know when that is going to happen for sure. But if we were to get in we couldn’t play until the season after next,” Papastergiadis added.
The lack of excitement in the interim put the player off the deal Papastergiadis admitted. Drogba might be on his way to China again if no decent offer comes in sight, some reports claim.