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#2 Frank Lampard persuading Drogba to stay
The Ivory Coast player scored 16 goals in both of his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge and the club won back-to-back Premier League title under the guidance of a young Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho.
But during Drogba’s second season at the club, he was accused of deceiving the referee on a couple of occasions when he handled the ball before scoring the goal. The first of the two goals was disallowed, but the second one against Manchester City was not.
The striker was condemned by the media for his actions and was reportedly unsettled after the incident. Some diving instances here and there only added to the amount of hostility he faced.
Drogba recalls in the book that it was Frank Lampard’s text message to him which made up his mind to drop the idea of leaving the club.
“The guy who single-handedly convinced me to stay was Frank Lampard,” he said. “One day, just after the World Cup, I was having a short family holiday in Marrakesh when I received a text message from him.
“Strange, because I didn't remember ever having been texted by him during the entire two seasons I'd already been at Chelsea. I looked at the message, and I remember it to this day: 'Hi DD, I hope that you're staying, because we have to win the league together, and we have to win the Champions League together!'
“I just stared at the phone. Frank wasn't the sort to talk a lot. He's really calm. He's a leader, but he leads more by his goals, by what he does on the pitch, not by words. Along with JT, he was the boss of the team.”
He added: “For me, receiving that text was really powerful. It was proof that I was wanted – not that the team or the club didn't want me before, but I needed someone to tell me.”
