Plans to offer the Ivory Coast hitman, 31, a new contract have been scrapped and he now looks certain to leave Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are ready to ditch Didier Drogba following his F-word rant against Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal second leg against Barcelona.
Plans to offer the Ivory Coast hitman, 31, a new contract have been scrapped and he now looks certain to leave Stamford Bridge.
Drogba’s current £91,000-a-week deal ends next summer, but he will now be sold at the end of this season if Chelsea gets a decent offer.
The striker and Michael Ballack face UEFA bans for angry protests against Ovrebo after he overlooked claims for four penalties as Chelsea’s European dreams were shattered by Barcelona.
Drogba confronted the ref and called him a ‘f*****g disgrace’ in front of millions watching on live television.
Coach Guus Hiddink defended his player by insisting: “I can fully understand the emotion of the moment.”
But Chelsea officials have lost patience with Drogba — who was sent off in last year’s Champions League final defeat against Manchester United — for his reaction to this latest upset.
They are deeply embarrassed by his temper tantrum, carried out in flip-flops after he ran back on to the pitch at the final whistle, having been substituted with 18 minutes remaining. The Chelsea hierarchy was keen to offload him last year after his red card in Moscow.
But injury scuppered a transfer to AC Milan and he played his way back into favour under Hiddink after starting this season in disagreement with previous boss Luis Phil Scolari.
Under Hiddink he has been outstanding and his return to top form led the club to decide to offer him a new deal.
But he blew that out of the water with his unruly behaviour and instead will be offloaded a year early.
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