Olympique de Marseille had the flair, just 20 years ago, to recruit Didier Drogba. He only stayed one season, against his will, but the Ivorian striker set the Stade Vélodrome on fire forever.
A holiday scent floated in the Agen stadium in the summer of 2003 to welcome “two tenors” of the French Championship, as had written Free lunch at the time.
The Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique de Marseille faced each other in a warm-up match.
On the lawn of Armandie, a newcomer to the Provençal club, scored his team’s first goal on July 23, 20 years ago. It was not the most important scored by Didier Drogba with OM.
In just one season, the Ivorian centre-forward has managed to enter the Olympian club’s book definitively. Since Jean-Pierre Papin (1986-1992), Marseille had not known such a popular striker.
Barthez weighs down OM…
19 goals in 35 Ligue 1 matches and 11 goals in 14 European matches (6 in C1 and 8 in C3). Drogba scored six times in the UEFA Cup and OM reached the final.
But with Didier Drogba on one leg, not recovered from an injury contracted a few days earlier, Marseille’s chances are falling among bettors.
The training coached by Alain Perrin yielded on May 19, 2004 to the Spaniards of FC Valence (2-0), further reduced to 10 after the expulsion of Fabien Barthez just before the end of the first period.
Unfortunately for Didier Drogba and the Marseille supporters, he will no longer have the opportunity to wear the famous sky and white jersey.
Marquinhos, the incredible twist https://t.co/Wk2ZAGmnul
— French Football Weekly (@foot365) July 29, 2023
Recruited from Guingamp for 6 million euros, Didier Drogba was sold in the summer of 2004 for just over 38M to Chelsea by the will of the owner of OM at the time.
In search of cash to balance the accounts of the Olympian club, Robert Louis-Dreyfus had forced the separation between Didier Drogba and the people of Marseille.
The Ivorian international (105 caps – 65 goals) will play 9 years with the Blues (2004-2012 and 2014-2015) for a prestigious record: 4 English crowns, 4 FA Cups and a Champions League (2012).
