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The leader of the Ivory Coast national team and London club attacks has decided to tie his future to the English champions club and signed a new four-year contract, which will be valid until 2010.
The player, who has recently been demonstrating excellent athletic form, immediately extended his contract with Chelsea, thus denying all speculation about a possible departure.
"I don't play well just to extend my contract with Chelsea," the attacker told Chelsea TV. "I play well because I feel great and I'm happy to train with my teammates. I really want to thank the club's head coach Jose Mourinho, who believed in me when he acquired me, and now we will be together for a long time. I think this is the most memorable moment of my professional football career."
"I am happy because when I arrived here, it wasn't very easy for me and I couldn't say that I would extend my contract with Chelsea. Everyone knows that the first year in a new club is very difficult," added the 28-year-old player. "The second season was good, but I think I can do everything much better."
Chelsea acquired the African for £24 million in March 2004 from the French Ligue 1 champions Marseille. Wearing the 'Blues' shirt, he played in 98 matches and scored 42 goals.
This season, D. Drogba has scored five goals in the English Premier League championship, as many times as he has distinguished himself in the UEFA Champions League matches, where he scored a hat-trick in the match against Levski Sofia.
But the most memorable moment for the player was when he gave his team a victory at the Stamford Bridge stadium with a spectacular shot against Barcelona, in the return match against the Spanish champions this Tuesday, which ended in a 2-2 draw, the Ivory Coast legionnaire scored the equalizing goal in the last minute, helping his team secure a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.
Chelsea will face Tottenham this Sunday in the 11th round of the English championship, and the team's top scorer D.Drogba will wear the club's jersey for the 99th time.
It is worth noting that at the moment, Chelsea shares the top spot in the English Premier League with 25 points with the players from Manchester United.
