7 players who surprised everyone by moving to the Chinese Super League

#2 Didier Drogba - Shanghai Shenhua

Didier Drogba will be looking to bully the Chinese defences

Drogba was a tormenter of defenders when he was playing in the Premier League for Chelsea. The Blues legend made 226 appearances for the club scoring a remarkable 100 goals. In the 2011/12 season, the fans voted Drogba as their greatest player of all time in a poll of 20,000 conducted by Chelsea magazine.

In May of that same year, Chelsea released an official statement on their website stating Drogba would be leaving at the end of the season after letting his contract expire. Several teams in the Premier League were looking to sign him but, to everyone’s surprise, he signed for Shanghai Shenhua on a free transfer.

Drogba became the second Chelsea player to make the move to China after Nicolas Anelka had signed for the same outfit. The Ivorian was reported to be offered a two-and-a-half-year contract earning a reported £200,000 a week.

Drogba helped the club finish in 9th place, a huge improvement considering they were 13th in the league when he arrived. But Drogba’s stint lasted only six months before it was announced that he would be signing for Galatasaray.

There was apparently a power struggle for the control of the club between several parties which led to players’ wages not being paid. When Drogba decided to depart, the club stated that he had breached the rules of his contract. Drogba appealed to FIFA justifying that his wages were not paid and was allowed to play for Galatasaray after he won the contract dispute.