Ricardo Quaresma

Name:	Ricardo Quaresma (on loan from Inter Milan)
Nationality:	Portuguese
Date of Birth:	26/09/1983
Height:	5' 8" (173cm)
Weight:	10st 8lbs (67.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Barcelona, Porto, Chelsea (loan), S. Lisbon
Position:	Striker

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce that we have signed Inter Milan winger Ricardo Quaresma on loan until the end of the season. The Premier League have confirmed the deal.

Quaresma joins us as the sixth Portuguese player in the first team squad, following the summer arrivals of José Bosingwa and Deco, who have also worked under manager Luiz Felipe Scolari at international level.

The 25-year-old winger can play on either flank, with his qualities of speed and finesse a regular problem for opposing defences.

Born in Lisbon on September 26, 1983, Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo began his career with local club Sporting, making his debut as a 17-year-old.

While at Sporting, he worked his way into the first team and became a regular during the championship-winning 2001/02 season alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

He made 59 league appearances in two seasons, scoring eight goals, before Barcelona approached for his services in the summer of 2003, paying six million Euros to secure his signature.

His time at the Catalan club yielded only a handful of starts, and an injury towards the end of the season saw the youngster miss out on Euro 2004 in his home country. Following the tournament, he returned to Portugal with Porto, just as Deco was heading to Barcelona.

He quickly settled, scoring in the 2004 Uefa Super Cup defeat against Valencia, and was regarded during his four-year stay at Porto as one of the league's most potent weapons.

Quaresma's form in the 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 campaigns helped seal a succession of league championships, and regular Champions League football.

He is no stranger to Stamford Bridge, having played four times as a Porto player against the Blues, twice in 2004/05 and twice again two years later.

In March 2007, Quaresma opened the scoring at the Bridge, before goals from Arjen Robben and Michael Ballack sealed our progression into the quarter-finals.

After 124 league appearances and 24 goals, Quaresma was bought by Inter Milan last summer, one of José Mourinho's first signings for the club.

Now, the 5'8 playmaker has the opportunity to rekindle his relationship with Scolari, who utilised his services in Euro 2008, where he scored the most recent of his three international goals, in a 3-1 win over Petr Cech's Czech Republic side. He has 25 caps.

Quaresma becomes our first and only signing of the winter transfer window, and will stay with us until the end of the season.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	1 (3)	0	0	0
FA Cup	0 (1)	0	0	0

Inter Milan
Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	7 (6)	1	3	0
Euro Cups	3 (3)	0	0	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Porto	2007 - 08	League	26 (1)	8
		FA Cup	3 (0)	1
		Euro Cups	8 (0)	2
Porto	2006 - 07	League	26 (0)	6
		Euro Cups	8 (0)	2
Porto	2005 - 06	League	25 (4)	5
		FA Cup	1 (0)	0
		Euro Cups	5 (1)	0
Porto	2004 - 05	League	24 (7)	5
		Euro Cups	5 (4)	1
Barcelona	2003 - 04	League	10 (12)	1
		Euro Cups	3 (1)	0
S. Lisbon	2002 - 03	League	20 (0)	5
		Euro Cups	2 (0)	0
S. Lisbon	2001 - 02	League	3 (0)	3
		Euro Cups	0 (1)	0

source : www.chelseafc.com

Jose Bosingwa

Name:	Jose Bosingwa
Nationality:	Portuguese
Date of Birth:	24/08/1982
Height:	6' 0" (183cm)
Weight:	11st 11lbs (75.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Porto, Boavista
Position:	Defender

José Bosingwa agreed terms with Chelsea Football Club on May 12 and officially joined after Euro 2008. He agreed a three-year contract.

The 25-year-old joined us from Porto, where he spent the past five seasons since signing from Boavista in 2003.

While with Porto, he played alongside our own Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira, and established himself as first choice right-back upon Ferreira's switch to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004.

Used just 13 times in his first season by José Mourinho, Bosingwa became a regular during 2004/5 and has kept his place since, playing over 100 times.

He played twice against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge in September 2004 in our 3-1 group stage win over the reigning European champions (he was an unused sub for the away fixture) and in the first leg of last season's first knockout round, a 1-1 draw in Porto with Andriy Shevchenko scored for the Blues.

However injury ruled Bosingwa out of the second leg when Chelsea progressed.

The player's consistency for club allowed him to break into the Portugal squad, where he faces a battle with Valencia's Miguel for the starting berth, Ferreira a regular on the left, while Carvalho plays in the centre.

Born in Mbandaka, Congo, the same birthplace as Claude Makelele, José Bosingwa da Silva moved to Portugal at an early age, and was recruited by Boavista where he developed his all-round game - solid at the back, energetic down the flanks and incisive in attack. Used mainly in defence now, he can also be employed as a right-sided midfielder.

He made 41 league appearances in two seasons for Boavista before joining Porto in the summer of 2003.

He has also represented his country at under-21 level, as well as playing in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and to date he has four Superliga championships and a Portuguese Cup to his name, as well as a Champions League winners' medal from 2004, when he was an unused substitute as Porto triumphed 3-0 against Monaco.

In the season just finished, he was part of a championship-winning Porto side that conceded just 13 goals in 30 games.

Bosingwa became the fourth Portuguese in our first team squad, with Hilario also involved, and quickly established himself as first choice right-back with his energetic displays on the wing. Demonstrating a keenness to get forward and support attacks, he was instrumental in our early season form, creating a host of chances for team-mates while also scoring his first Chelsea goal at Stoke in September.

This was followed by a long-range, left-footed curler at West Brom in mid-November, as Bosingwa continued to impress into the new year with relatively little challenge for his place.

Injury on international duty ruled him out for a number of weeks in April, but he returned as energetic as ever, even filling in on the left-hand side of defence to mark Lionel Messi in Barcelona after passing an audtion at West Ham to cover Ashley Cole's absence. He performed superbly, keeping the Argentine's impact to a minimum, with the help of Florent Malouda, who was also working to limit Dani Alves's contribution.

Returning to the right, he will be joping to continue that form in the second leg and beyond.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	34 (0)	2	6	0
FA Cup	4 (0)	0	0	0
Euro Cups	10 (0)	0	0	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Porto	2007 - 08	League	22 (1)	1
		FA Cup	2 (0)	0
		Euro Cups	7 (0)	0
Porto	2006 - 07	League	25 (0)	0
		Euro Cups	6 (0)	0
Porto	2005 - 06	League	21 (0)	0
		FA Cup	1 (0)	0
		Euro Cups	4 (1)	0
Porto	2004 - 05	League	22 (3)	1
		Euro Cups	4 (1)	0
Porto	2003 - 04	League	7 (5)	1
		Euro Cups	2 (7)	0
Boavista	2002 - 03	League	5 (8)	0
		Euro Cups	2 (4)	0
Boavista	2001 - 02	Euro Cups	4 (4)	0

Scott Sinclair

Name:	Scott Sinclair
Nationality:	English
Date of Birth:	25/03/1989
Height:	5' 10" (177cm)
Weight:	10st 12lbs (69.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Crystal Palace (loan), QPR (loan), Charlton (loan), Birmingham, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth (loan), Luton Town
Position:	Midfielder

A new permanent member of the first team squad, Scott's promotion was reward for progress the teenager made the previous campaign, and he was quickly in the action again as a substitute against Manchester United in the 2007 Community Shield.

Used as a regular by Avram Grant in the earlier stages of both the Carling and FA Cups last season, Scott scored his first Chelsea goal in September, slotting home coolly at Hull in a 4-0 win.

This was followed up with a loan spell at QPR, which coincided with the Loftus Road side's climb from the foot of the table.

The winger was able to return for Carling Cup duty against Liverpool, before coming on as a substitute against Newcastle for his sole league appearance of the season. It was a change that sparked waves of Chelsea attacks, bringing about a 2-1 victory.

Two more Championship loan spells followed, both in London, firstly with Charlton and then with Crystal Palace, where Scott scored vital goals, including one superb solo effort to take the Eagles into the play-offs.

A speedy, direct-running player, Sinclair was signed at 16 from Bristol Rovers in July 2005, having made his debut for his previous club aged just 15. A tribunal set an initial £200,000 fee with further payments depending on progress.

In his first Chelsea campaign he top scored in the youth team with 15 goals, adding a further four in the reserves. Steady progress continued in his second season as he was asked to play mostly wide left of a front three with licence to cut in and shoot with his favoured right-foot.

He was the reserves' leading marksman with seven goals from 11 appearances plus one goal from six in the youth side.

A first team debut came just after Christmas, in the final three minutes away at Wycombe in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg before a loan to Championship side Plymouth where Scott soon made headlines.

Proving he could take the dribbling skills seen at junior level onto the bigger stage, a solo spectacular from inside his own half against Barnet was voted the goal of the 2007 FA Cup fourth round and he followed it with one from the same mould against Crystal Palace and another in the Cup.

The successful spell in Devon provided 18 games of first team experience before a return to Chelsea in May and a sub appearance in the 80th minute at Arsenal. That was followed by a first start at home to Man United.

A promising home debut was ended by a Wes Brown foul and a broken metatarsal but Scott healed rapidly enough for another cameo against the same opposition in the Community Shield.

Now with another year's experience under his belt, he will be looking to establish himself in the Chelsea first team reckoning but is on loan at Championship promotion-challengers Birmingham until the end of the season.

Season 2008 - 09

Birmingham
Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	8 (6)	0	0	0

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	0 (2)	0	0	0
FA Cup	0 (1)	0	0	0
League Cup	0 (1)	0	0	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Crystal Palace	2007 - 08	League	8 (0)	2
Charlton	2007 - 08	League	0 (3)	0
QPR	2007 - 08	League	8 (1)	1
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	0 (1)	0
		FA Cup	2 (0)	0
		League Cup	3 (0)	1
Plymouth	2006 - 07	League	8 (7)	2
		FA Cup	2 (1)	2
Chelsea	2006 - 07	League	1 (1)	0
		League Cup	0 (1)	0
Bristol Rovers	2004 - 05	League	0 (2)	0

Florent Malouda

Name:	Florent Malouda
Nationality:	French
Date of Birth:	13/06/1980
Height:	5' 10" (177cm)
Weight:	12st 11lbs (81.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Lyon, Guingamp
Position:	Midfielder

The 2008/09 campaign will be Florent's second season at Chelsea. He joined on a three-year contract with an undisclosed fee paid to Lyon for the then 27-year-old French international winger.

Lyon was his third club. He began his career in Paris with lower league Châteauroux where he played two seasons before moving up the ladder to Guingamp.

In Brittany he teamed up with Didier Drogba and his impressive form over three seasons attracted the attention of Lyon.

Arriving at his new club the same season as Michael Essien, the two shared in championship success, Florent staying at the Stade Gerland long enough to win a hat-trick of league titles while starring in Champions League displays.

Having moved clubs in 2003, he made his debut for France in November 2004 and was a regular by the time of the 2006 World Cup where France made the final.

Florent played wide left of the attack and won the penalty that was converted by Zinedine Zidane to open the scoring, although his side would ultimately lose on a shoot-out.

He has remained a fixture in and around the French XI, and was a key member of the Euro 2008 qualification campaign although in common with most of his compatriots, endured a disappointing tournament, losing his place for the final group game as the team ended bottom.

At Chelsea, the first year started brightly with an excellently-taken Community Shield goal at Wembley and another strike in the first league game. He won a controversially-awarded penalty for an important point at Anfield and opened his Champions League account at home to Schalke.

However a two-month absence in mid-winter with due to persistent knee injury took its toll on Florent's form although he did hit one of the passes of the season for Joe Cole's winner at Goodison in the Carling Cup semi-final.

Following the grim FA Cup exit at Barnsley, there was a month in the wilderness but Avram Grant issued a recall for the Champions League quarter-finals, the then manager frequently choosing the Malouda rather than the Kalou option in European away games. The policy was retained in the Final in Moscow where Florent played the first 92 minutes.

He completed his first Chelsea campaign with four goals from 29+9 games, before Luiz Felipe Scolari arrived in the summer announcing he wanted to see the same Malouda at Chelsea he had seen at Lyon, with direct running and a stronger eye for goal.

The winger responded, but began the season on the bench. It took just 38 minutes before he was introduced in place of an injured Michael Ballack, helping the side to a 4-0 win against Portsmouth.

A run of four goals in 10 games followed before injury setback at the end of November kept him out until Boxing Day, when he returned for the 2-0 win over West Brom. With his natural left-footedness, Malouda provided balance and width that prevented the Drogba - Nicolas Anelka partnership from seeing too much game time, before he began to link up with them both in a three-pronged attack.

Under Guus Hiddink, Malouda started to show a consistency to his game that many would argue had been absent. Assists, running and goals began to become regular facets of the winger's game as he played a key role in FA Cup semi-final success, while denying Lionel Messi the space he needed in the Camp Nou to hurt the Blues in Ashley Cole's absence.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	24 (7)	6	3	0
FA Cup	4 (0)	1	0	0
League Cup	2 (0)	1	0	0
Euro Cups	9 (1)	1	1	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	16 (5)	2
		FA Cup	2 (0)	0
		League Cup	2 (1)	0
		Euro Cups	8 (3)	1
Lyon	2006 - 07	League	27 (8)	10
		Euro Cups	7 (0)	3
Lyon	2005 - 06	League	24 (6)	6
		Euro Cups	9 (0)	0
Lyon	2004 - 05	League	31 (3)	5
		Euro Cups	9 (1)	3
Lyon	2003 - 04	League	31 (4)	4
		Euro Cups	7 (3)	0
Guingamp	2002 - 03	League	36 (1)	10
Guingamp	2001 - 02	League	32 (0)	4
Guingamp	2000 - 01	League	16 (7)	1
Chateauroux	1999 - 00	League	28 (0)	2

Michael Ballack

Name:	Michael Ballack
Nationality:	German
Date of Birth:	26/09/1976
Height:	6' 2" (188cm)
Weight:	14st 0lbs (89.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern
Position:	Midfielder

An ankle operation before the climax to the 2006/07 season denied Michael any action in the first half of 2007/08, but after Christmas he made his mark as one of Chelsea's most reliable performers.

Eight months out were ended with a substitute appearance in the Carling Cup against Liverpool, and immediately the German made an impact, flicking on a cross for Andriy Shevchenko to seal the win.

Important goals followed in quick succession against Aston Villa and Fulham as Ballack, skippering the side in the absence of others, led the team through a difficult January period back into the title race.

He popped up again in March with a Goal of the Season contender at West Ham, before demonstrating his steely nerve with two goals against Manchester United in April, including an 86th minute penalty.

A month later the midfielder faced Edwin van der Sar again in Moscow, and produced the same result with a well struck spot-kick, only to see the Dutchman later save Nicolas Anelka's effort.

With nine goals in just 30 appearances, Ballack's second season at Stamford Bridge was a success, after a campaign of acclimatisation in 2006/07.

He missed out on a place in the FA Cup winning side due to his ankle injury but he had made a mark in Chelsea's earlier triumphant Carling Cup Final, slipping the perfect pass through for Didier Drogba's important equaliser against Arsenal in Cardiff.

Another high point was the extra-time FA Cup semi-final winner against Blackburn that sent Chelsea to Wembley and although Michael's seven goals from midfield was lower than his seasonal average, his overall contribution frequently drew commendation from José Mourinho.

Just one week after the close of the previous season, Chelsea announced our intention not to sit on the laurels of back-to-back championship wins when we signed the biggest name in the German game.

By the end of that summer, the club also added the purchases of Andriy Shevchenko and Ashley Cole.

'One thing is to build a team around two or three world class players,' explained José Mourinho at the time of the Ballack signing.

'It is a very different thing to have already a world class team and add two or three world class players.

Before he could put on a Chelsea shirt, Michael performed the most momentous task that can be asked of a footballer - to captain his nation in a World Cup held in his homeland.

Despite niggling injury problems and a blank entry on the scoresheet, he was still able to whet the appetite of Blues fans with his vision, technique, supreme passing and time on the ball as Germany exceeded initial expectations.

When Michael decided to leave Bayern Munich on a free transfer prior to the 2006 World Cup, he could have taken his pick from Europe's finest clubs. However the English Premier League had long appealed.

Michael was born in the pre-reunification East Germany where he started his professional career at Karl-Marx-Stadt FC, the club changing name to Chemnitz FC after the fall of the Eastern Bloc.

He became an Under 21 international whilst there before moving up the ladder to Bundesliga club Kaiserslautern in 1997.

He made 16 appearances in an historic first season - his new club becoming the first newly-promoted outfit the win the German league.

Aged 22, Michael became a full international and soon made a move to Bayer Leverkusen where his career truly began to take off, culminating in the 2002 Champions League Final.

Bayer lost out to Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid but the team's inspiration in midfield won the first of three German Player of the Year awards.

His country's biggest club, Bayern Munich, came calling that summer and Michael moved for £12.9m, winning his second Bundesliga winners' medal in his first season in Bavaria.

He then scored twice in the German Cup Final to make it a double success.

That double triumph was repeated two seasons later and then again the next year, his last one in Germany.

As tradition demands for German internationals, Michael has been a part of strong World Cup campaigns.

It was his two goals that took his team through the quarter- and semi-final stages at the Japan/South Korea 2002 event but a booking in the semi, earned selflessly attempting to preserve the lead, meant heartbreak as he was forced to sit out the Final versus Brazil.

In 2006 in Germany it was late goals by the Italians that denied a Final appearance but in Euro 2008, the Germans were again strong, Michael's free-kick winner over Austria taking them out of the group stage. He was then outstanding in a quarter-final victory over Portugal, his goal the winner as Luiz Felipe Scolari suffered defeat at this stage for the first time. Only the quality of Spain in the Final prevented international silverware.

A dangerous header of a ball and comfortable shooting and passing with either foot, Michael arrived at Chelsea with a goal-scoring record pushing one in every two games for both club and country, a ratio he has yet to meet in 2008/09, partially due to injury.

An operation on both feet in October ruled him out for over a month before a substitute return at West Brom six weeks later, but fit again he heads into 2009 with optimism and unwaivering desire to succeed.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	22 (7)	1	6	0
FA Cup	6 (1)	3	1	0
League Cup	1 (0)	0	1	0
Euro Cups	9 (1)	0	3	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	16 (2)	7
		FA Cup	1 (1)	0
		League Cup	1 (2)	0
		Euro Cups	7 (0)	2
Chelsea	2006 - 07	League	23 (3)	5
		FA Cup	3 (0)	1
		League Cup	5 (1)	0
		Euro Cups	10 (0)	2
Bayern Munich	2005 - 06	League	26 (0)	14
		Euro Cups	6 (0)	1
Bayern Munich	2004 - 05	League	25 (0)	11
		Euro Cups	9 (0)	2
Bayern Munich	2003 - 04	League	28 (0)	7
		Euro Cups	8 (0)	0
Bayern Munich	2002 - 03	League	26 (0)	10
		Euro Cups	6 (0)	1
Leverkusen	2001 - 02	League	29 (0)	17
		Euro Cups	15 (0)	6
Leverkusen	2000 - 01	League	27 (0)	7
		Euro Cups	5 (0)	2
Leverkusen	1999 - 00	League	22 (1)	3
		Euro Cups	2 (0)	2
Kaiserslautern	1998 - 99	League	22 (6)	5

source : www.chelseafc.com

Obi Mikel

Name:	Mikel
Nationality:	Nigerian
Date of Birth:	22/04/1987
Height:	6' 2" (188cm)
Weight:	13st 8lbs (86.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Lyn Oslo
Position:	Midfielder

Twenty-one-years-old at the start of the 2008/09 season, such is the physical and footballing maturity of Mikel that his young age is easy to overlook.

However, in common with his fellow youthful African at Chelsea, Salomon Kalou, he increasingly looked the part last season having first found his skilful feet during the 2006/07 campaign, his first in England.

Mikel became a squad addition the summer after Chelsea had secured a second straight league title. An agreement had been reached with Manchester United and Norwegian club Lyn Oslo that allowed Chelsea to sign the then 19-year-old Nigerian midfielder for a combined £16 million.

A powerfully-built young man, with exceptional ball skills, his standing as one of the brightest young talents in the game had been confirmed at the African Cup of Nations earlier that year, his senior international debut having come in August 2005.

Previously Mikel had starred in the 2005 Fifa U-20 World Youth Championships where he was voted the tournament's second best player as Nigeria made the final. The player trained with Chelsea for one week in the winter of 2004 and José Mourinho had seen enough to wish to sign him.

The then manager said: 'Everybody was in love, not just me. The players were amazed at a young boy coming and training with us with such quality.

'Later we saw him in the African Cup of Nations playing like a giant. He was at an unbelievable level and we know what a player he can be.'

Following on from the transfer of Kalou the same summer, the arrival of Mikel confirmed Chelsea's determination to add exciting young talent as well as established stars to the squad.

Having smoothed out some rough edges both on and off the pitch, Mourinho increasingly used Mikel's talent in the holding midfield role, especially when requiring a long range of passing.

Named Chelsea Young Player of the Year, he survived an injury scare the week before the 2007 FA Cup Final win to play the whole game.

His 2007/08 campaign saw Mikel continue to grow in the 'Makelele' role, and by the end of it he had played more games than the old master of the position.

There were hitches. An unfortunate sending off at Old Trafford in Avram Grant's first game was followed by another red card in a Carling Cup semi-final against Everton, his fourth since joining Chelsea.

African Nations duty rendered the subsequent suspension irrelevant and although for Nigeria generally, it was an unremarkable tournament in Ghana, Mikel was their outstanding performer.

He started the 2008 Carling Cup Final shortly after his return but then spent a spell out the side before ending with responsibility in some important games, including the home win over Manchester United when he was outstanding.

Such displays have become more commonplace as Scolari has built the team around his young midfielder, his abilities perhaps noticed more in his absence than when proving to be the link between defence and midfield, starting wave after wave of attack with his precise passing.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	33 (1)	0	6	0
FA Cup	6 (0)	0	3	0
League Cup	0 (1)	0	0	0
Euro Cups	9 (0)	0	1	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	21 (8)	0
		FA Cup	2 (0)	0
		League Cup	3 (0)	0
		Euro Cups	1 (3)	0
Chelsea	2006 - 07	League	10 (12)	0
		FA Cup	5 (1)	2
		League Cup	3 (1)	0
		Euro Cups	6 (3)	0
Lyn Oslo	2005 - 06	League	2 (0)	0
Lyn Oslo	2004 - 05	League	4 (0)	1

source : www.chelseafc.com

Didier Drogba

Name:	Didier Drogba
Nationality:	Ivorian
Date of Birth:	11/03/1978
Height:	6' 2" (189cm)
Weight:	14st 5lbs (91.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Marseille, Guingamp
Position:	Striker

Pace allied to strength and aerial power made Didier the type of forward not seen at Stamford Bridge for quite a while on his arrival in 2004 and the ingredients all came together to create a memorable 20006/7 season, followed by more outstanding displays last campaign.

Although his 15 goals last year fell short of the 33 scored the one before, there were still Goal of the Season contenders among them and had the African Cup of Nations and a recurring knee problem not intervened, he might have matched a total that had made him Chelsea's highest scorer in a season since Kerry Dixon in 1984/85.

Importantly, Didier delivers on the big occasions. His 2008 Carling Cup Final goal in the defeat to Spurs was his fourth in cup finals, a Chelsea best, and he became the first African to score in an FA Cup Final with his extra-time winner over Man United in 2007.

Unfortunately his Moscow match will be remembered just as much for a red card as an outstanding shot onto the post but his stunning demolition of Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final was special, as had been his goals home and away against Barcelona in earlier European campaigns.

Didier was signed in the summer of 2004 from Marseille where he had been named France's Player of the Year. A reported fee of £24 million was paid.

The man who spearheaded Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals in 2006 moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back.

He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris St-Germain, preferring to learn his trade before moving onto the big stage.

He did so at Second Division Le Mans before shifting up a division to Guingamp, a club he had been prevented from joining some years earlier due to injury.

It was during this spell in Brittany that Didier first came to the attention of José Mourinho - but after scoring 17 goals in 2002/03 and becoming an international, he had moved out of Porto's price range.

Olympique Marseille swooped and they did not regret their move. After a gentle-paced start to his career in France, Didier hit full sprint following the move to the big time.

In his second season at l'OM, he netted 18 times in 35 league games and six times as the 2004 Uefa Cup Final was reached, including braces against Liverpool and Newcastle.

In addition to his France Footballer of the Year award, Fifa recognised the achievements with a nomination for World Player of the Year. Mourinho made the player a top target in his first summer of transfer activity at Chelsea - and this time the price wasn't a problem.

A groin operation forced him out for two months midway through his first season and it took time to reach full power again.

But Didier scored in the 2005 Carling Cup Final and the man asked to fill the central position in a front three netted 10 times in the championship-winning campaign and
16 times in all competitions.

In 2005/06 his season's tally was again 16 goals, 12 coming during the successful defence of the Premiership, but before that triumph, there was also adversity.

Following handball incidents in two games and accusations of diving, it took character to respond with an awe-inspiring showing against West Ham at the Bridge in March 2006.

Chelsea came back from a goal and a man down to win 4-1, prompting Mourinho to say:

'Didier should go home, switch on the TV, listen to the pundits, buy every single paper tomorrow and listen and read to see if the same people who wanted to kill him have now the common sense to say what he deserves.'

Didier captained Ivory Coast in their maiden World Cup Finals in 2006 and found the net against Argentina before returning to Chelsea where he was asked to mould a strike partnership with newly-arrived Andriy Shevchenko.

He found playing with two-up suited as the flow of goals turned into a torrent.

His 20 in the league won the Premiership Golden Boot. His 60 games tally was the second highest appearances in a season in the club's history.

The African Player of the Year that season, he has become Chelsea's all-time highest scoring international.

He signed a new deal to keep him at the club until 2010 but a passionate and emotional man, he reacted publicly to the departure of Mourinho and since has been regularly linked with a move away. Both Club and player vowed to concentrate on football and talk in the summer.

Last season, injury and unavailability limited Didier's impact compared with the season before. A knee problem became too much to bear and so surgery kept him from action for a month before African Nations duty where Ivory Coast made the semis.

On his return and on his day, he continued to look unstoppable, not least in leading a two-goal turnaround against Arsenal at the Bridge in March when the long unbeaten home record had looked to be ending. With his Liverpool goals, he became Chelsea's highest ever goalscorer in Europe.

The records put Didier up alongside Chelsea's very best strikers, and although injuries and suspensions have hampered him again this season, the pedigree is still undoubted, with glimpses of his all-roiund game demonstrated against Burnley and West Brom in domestic action.

Beginning to forge a partnership with Nicolas Anelka, 2009 promised much, and in recent months Drogba has not disappointed.

Often overlooked by Luiz Felipe Scolari due to a lack of match fitness, Drogba forced his way into the side under Guus Hiddink and has been near unstoppable since. Important goals against Juventus, Coventry, Liverpool and Arsenal in cup competitions were backed up with league strikes against Portsmouth, Bolton and Fulham, as his physical style brought the likes of Florent Malouda and Anelka into the action.

Has recently said his best Chelsea times are ahead of him, and few would doubt that when he is on his game.

Season 2008 - 09

Competition	Apps (as sub)	Goals	Yellow Cards	Red Cards
League	15 (9)	5	1	0
FA Cup	4 (1)	2	1	0
League Cup	2 (0)	1	0	0
Euro Cups	7 (3)	5	1	0

Career History:
Club	Season	Comp.	Apps (as sub)	Goals
Chelsea	2007 - 08	League	17 (2)	8
		FA Cup	0 (1)	0
		League Cup	1 (0)	1
		Euro Cups	11 (0)	6
Chelsea	2006 - 07	League	32 (4)	20
		FA Cup	6 (0)	3
		League Cup	3 (2)	4
		Euro Cups	12 (0)	6
Chelsea	2005 - 06	League	20 (9)	12
		FA Cup	3 (0)	1
		League Cup	0 (1)	0
		Euro Cups	5 (2)	1
Chelsea	2004 - 05	League	18 (8)	10
		FA Cup	1 (1)	0
		League Cup	3 (1)	1
		Euro Cups	8 (1)	5
Marseille	2003 - 04	League	30 (5)	19
		Euro Cups	14 (2)	11
Guingamp	2002 - 03	League	26 (8)	17
Guingamp	2001 - 02	League	8 (2)	3

source : www.chelseafc.com