Drogba: I was surprised by fee

14 April 2012

Didier Drogba's rise from the lower reaches of French football to being Chelsea's record signing has taken everyone by surprise, and the Ivory Coast striker is struggling to believe his own life story. His first pay-slip next month should dispel any doubts.

Drogba's market value has increased 240-fold in the last three years, an incredible inflation not seen since Weimar Germany, but the £23million price tag has not gone to his head.

Chelsea's extraordinarily expensive squad comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but Drogba could be the one to challenge Damien Duff 's club sleeping record. Jose Mourinho described his most expensive recruit as "dead" after completing a 10-hour trans-Atlantic flight on top of Tuesday's signing and he certainly appears slightly comatose. It could be permanent.

The 26-year-old talks as he plays, languid and laconic with just a faint hint of menace. Any more laid back and he'd be horizontal. If the astonishing pace of his career development has taken him by surprise then he hides it well, showing no signs of the pressure usually associated with a big-money move to England.

Having left his family in the Ivory Coast to escape a bloody civil war at the age of five, he is unlikely to be fazed by a hop across the Channel.

Speaking for the first time since his arrival from Marseilles Drobga said: "My life has transformed greatly in a short space of time but that's why I'm a footballer, that's why I do the job. I do not feel any pressure, why should I feel pressure? Chelsea have paid quite a lot for my services but that doesn't mean anything.

"I was surprised at the amount of money Chelsea paid but I'm not involved in that side of things, other people deal with the finances. I don't wake up each morning and think 'Wow, I earn so much money.'

"I may have cost a lot of money but I am pleased that the club went to so much effort to sign me. I just hope I can repay them. Football is all about pleasure, it's a game that I get a lot of enjoyment from."

Drogba has been enjoying himself a great deal in the last two years. After struggling to make an impact as a youngster at Le Mans he was given a new lease at Guingamp, scoring 17 goals in 34 games in 2002/03 to earn a £4m move to Marseilles, for whom he scored 29 goals last season.

Whether such an unpredictable talent can thrive in the harsher environment of the Premiership remains to be seen but he has outclassed English defences in the past, scoring against both Liverpool and Newcastle en route to last season's UEFA Cup final.

Having watched a good deal of Premiership football on television he is aware of the step up in class but is confident of bridging the gap.

He said: "I've watched lot of Premier League football and know it's not easy to score against an English-style defence. I know that first hand from playing against Liverpool and Newcastle in the UEFA Cup but am confident that I can score goals.

"I have the quality of team-mates to achieve my goals. I'm really looking forward to playing with Chelsea and working with Mourinho. The most important thing for a striker is to score goals. I have my own style and am not like any other striker."

Paulo Ferreira also has to cope with the burden of a huge price tag having completed a £13.2m move from Porto but does not feel under any huge pressure to perform. The 25-year-old endured a difficult European Championship and was dropped after Portugal's opening defeat to Greece, but is determined to bounce back in the Premiership.

He said: "The people who know me know what kind of player I am. You should not judge me on the European Championship but on my 60 games for Porto and next season."

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Drogba: I was surprised by fee

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