Thursday, 18th September, 2014
Arsene Wenger has revealed he spotted Didier Drogba's talent at Le Mans and wishes he had signed the striker when he had the chance, not least because it would have helped Arsenal avoid a number of painful moments.
Drogba started his career at Le Mans, graduating from the club's youth ranks to play for the first team between 1998 and 2002. He was then snapped up by Guingamp and moved on to Marseille in 2003.
The Ivorian had a brief spell at the Stade Velodrome before Chelsea swooped to take him to Stamford Bridge in 2004 – and it was with the Blues that he would hurt Arsenal time and again.
Wenger knows he could have avoided the pain if he had acted on his instinct and bought Drogba from Le Mans.
Wenger told Arsenal's smartphone supplier Huawei: "I would have loved to have managed Didier Drogba, for two reasons.
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"One, I missed him when he played in France at Le Mans, not even in the top league.
"I knew there was a good player there and I missed him. And secondly because he hurt us so much in big games that all this pain would not have happened", the Frenchman added.
Drogba rejoined Chelsea earlier this summer after ending a stint in Turkey with Galatasaray.
The 36-year-old remains a Chelsea legend, not least because he helped the Blues win the Champions League in 2012.
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