Shanghai Shenhua have a good
chance of signing Chelsea striker Didier Drogba but need to work
hard to complete the deal, coach Sergio Batista said on
Thursday.
Just three days after scoring the winning penalty in
Chelsea's shootout victory over Bayern Munich in last month's
Champions League final, the Ivory Coast international announced
he would be leaving the London club.
"There is a big possibility he will come [to Shenhua] but it
will depend on the hard work the club puts into bringing him
here," said former Argentina midfielder Batista.
"It's not as if the club wants someone to come here and they [automatically] come - it is not that simple."
Former Argentina coach Batista took over at big-spending
Shanghai at the end of last month, signing a six-month deal to
replace sacked Frenchman Jean Tigana.
The Shenhua players, including Drogba's former Chelsea team
mate Nicolas Anelka, resumed training on Thursday following a
mid-season break.
The club, ninth in the Super League, fired Tigana in April
after a poor start to the season and replaced him with
interim coach Jean-Florent Ibenge.
Chinese clubs have been splashing out on big-name foreign
managers and players to try to raise the profile of domestic football.
Last month league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande appointed
Italy's former World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi after
sacking South Korean Lee Jang-soo.
Drogba, 34, joined Chelsea from Olympique Marseille in 2004
and his menacing physicality was ideally suited to the
fast-paced hubbub of the Premier League.
In addition to the Champions League, he also won three
Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups in a
glittering career at Stamford Bridge.
Drogba scored 157 times in 341 appearances, making him the
club's fourth all-time leading scorer, while his 34 European
goals are a Chelsea record.
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