Didier Drogba Joins Galatasaray on 18 months deal

Didier Drogba has signed an 18-month deal with Galatasaray after turning down the chance of a sensational return to Chelsea.The Ivorian has joined the Turkish outfit on loan from his Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. Roman Abramovich gave the go-ahead last week to offer Drogba a deal until the end of the season, with an option for a further year.Drogba said through his representatives, Sports PR Company, on Twitter: 'The opportunity to play for this great club was an offer that I could not turn down.'I am looking forward to playing in the Champions League again, against the best clubs in Europe.'The 34-year-old joined Shanghai last June on a two-and-a-half year deal reportedly worth £200,000 a week but was repeatedly linked with a move back to Europe in recent months.FIFA rejected a special request from the striker for him to join a club on loan outside the transfer window, amid speculation linking him with Juventus, AC Milan and Liverpool, among others.Despite his protests to the contrary, reports persisted that Drogba's move to China had not worked out, largely due to boardroom wrangling, and he has now left the Far East to return to Europe.Incredibly the talks were so far advanced that Chelsea were convinced that the man who delivered the European Cup last season was on the brink of signing before Thursday’s transfer deadline.He won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and his Chelsea career ended with that glorious finale against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena in May last year.Chelsea offered him a year’s extension on reduced terms at the time, but Drogba, 34, decided to quit after lifting the Champions League.The Blues have been struggling without him this season and Fernando Torres, who scored yesterday, is still struggling for form.Drogba, whose family still live in Surrey and whose children attend Chelsea’s academy, had been training with his old team-mates ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations and they initially began teasing him that he wanted to return.Gala are five points clear at the top of the Super Lig standings and the big-spending Turkish side also recruited former Champions League winner Wesley Sneijder last week. Galatasary face Schalke in the European Cup next month and the lure of playing in the competition he won last season proved too much.An emotional reunion with Chelsea is not possible, though, after the holders crashed out of the competition in the group stage.