Chelsea's Didier Drogba close in on £6.7million-a-year deal to join Shanghai Shenhua

Chelsea's man of the moment Didier Drogba was on Thursday night close to agreeing a £6.7million-a-year deal to join Shanghai Shenhua.

Drogba scored the opener in Sunday’s 5-1 FA Cup semi-final win against Tottenham and the winner in Wednesday night’s stunning victory over Barcelona.

But the 34-year-old is virtually assured of bringing the curtain down on his distinguished Chelsea career at the end of the season by joining former team-mate Nicolas Anelka — player-manager at Shenua — in China.



The Ivory Coast striker is expected to sign a two-year deal worth £130,000 a week after tax. Drogba had been willing to stay but Chelsea offered him only a 12-month extension on his contract, not the two years he wanted.

If Chelsea, currently sixth in the Premier League, go on to win the Barclays Champions League without making the top four, they would go directly into the group stage of next season’s competition courtesy of a rule forced through by UEFA after Liverpool won the competition in 2005 but did not finish in the top four.

See you soon: Drogba is set to join former team-mate Nicolas Anelka

The fourth-placed team would then be dumped into the Europa League, along with Liverpool — as Carling Cup winners — and the next best placed team in the Premier League.

Tottenham (fourth) and Newcastle (fifth) are most affected by the rule and, with only five games to go, have to face the possibility that finishing fourth may not secure Champions League football.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew said last night: ‘If we finished fourth, I would gulp on my beer if Chelsea won the Champions League, that’s for sure. I’m sure we all would.’