Didier Drogba, aged 34 and currently playing in China, opens up about his lucrative salary of 240,000 euros per week and his experience in Asia:
“I wanted to discover another culture, another world. I am served. This experience is different from anything I have ever known. Look around you, there are skyscrapers in abundance, but also, not very far away, places where the majority of the population is made up of farmers.”
“I’m enjoying it, even if the time difference with London, where my children have stayed, forces me to stay up late.”
“It was Nicolas Anelka who convinced me to sign for Shanghai. It also saved me time in adaptation. He made things easier for me in many areas. Both of us made Chelsea history, we won titles, broke records and we found ourselves in China, after, somewhere, we were made to understand that it was the end of a cycle. It’s a nice wink.”
“My salary? In your opinion, why do we work for a living? When you work well, you look for a raise, it’s as simple as that. Our salaries are shocking, especially in France. It always gets people talking, but these are exceptions. (…) There is jealousy towards football players who have nothing in their brains and run after a ball, score goals and win millions. In life, I believe that we get what we deserve…”
(Note: The statement refers to Drogba’s performance in a match against Senegal, helping Ivory Coast qualify for the CAN 2013.)
