Like Lampard, Drogba is at the peak of his market price. He could command 20m today but would he command the same next summer, when he’s 30 at an age where even Henry went for 16m?
It can be argued that both Lampard and Drogba are critical players for Chelsea and if Chelsea had to sell two players, they would be Makelele or Ballack and Shevchenko. And yet Makelele is going to be a backup player at best next season, and both Ballack and Shevchenko are trophy players like Rooney or Torres – the only difference being that Chelsea caught them on the wrong side of 30.
Ballack and Shevchenko will both improve next season – they have no where else to go but up – but their sale is not in question.
Drogba though, will both command a significant fee AND have plenty of suitors.
Chelsea would be foolish to sell Drogba for anything less than 20m, but what if a good 20m+ offer came in right now? Considering that Drogba will fetch less and he still needs to be paid next summer, why not cash in right now and bring in a striker for the future?
I’m sure Villa and Shevchenko could rule the Premiership for Chelsea together, just as Essien could handle the Chelsea midfield on his own if Lampard left.
Chelsea could, today, sell Lampard and Drogba and have enough money to bring in Alves and Villa and apart from revamping their squad they would also be replacing two clinical goal-scorers with equally clinical (and crucially, much younger) talents.
So…should Chelsea sell Drogba?
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