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Football

Mourinho pins reputation on Drogba


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Mourinho is sure $44.5m Drogba will prove great value for money

LONDON, England -- Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is happy to wait until the end of the season to discover if the reported 24 million pounds ($44.5m) paid for Didier Drogba was worth it.

Drogba, 26, had a medical on Tuesday as the English Premiership club confirmed they had signed the Ivory Coast striker from French side Marseille.

But the transfer of Benfica midfielder Tiago Mendes has been held up and the 23-year-old will not be flying to America on Wednesday for a pre-season tour.

Having spent five million pounds for striker Matej Kezman earlier this month, Mourinho's huge outlay on Drogba has been questioned considering he has yet to prove himself in the best European leagues.

But Mourinho, who has tracked Drogba for the past two seasons while he was manager at Portuguese side Porto, is confident that Chelsea's latest recruit can prove his Premiership worth.

"We will only know if he's cheap at the end of the season...we will wait and see," he said.

"I know him well and don't think that I'm wrong. If we win the league or we do well in the English cup it will be brilliant and certainly mean a great deal for Chelsea.

"If he doesn't help us at all of course it will be seen as expensive but we have to wait. It's important to note that Chelsea have spent more in the entire of last season than I have done.

"I tried to buy him when I was at Porto two years ago but I had no money then. It was unfortunate that there was nothing I could do.

"I hope that with Didier and the rest of the team that in one year's time you will be asking me why I'm not buying any players.

"We have a very young squad and everything is nearly in place."

If Drogba's fee was 24 million pounds - Chelsea did not confirm the details - then it was the club's largest transfer fee and takes the total spending under Russian owner Roman Abramovich to 190.6 million pounds in just over a year.

Drogba was Abramovich's 17th signing but Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon denies the club paid over the odds for him after reports said the London club paid double what Italian Serie A side Juventus were willing to pay.

Kenyon also hinted that Chelsea's spending was nearing its end at last.

"The suggestions from Juventus are merely suggestions. But if the money invested in Drogba will be repaid by scoring goals then so be it. He's one of the most exciting strikers around. We hope he fits in very well with our plans.

"We are delighted to have him. This means that nearly everything is in place."

Drogba, voted France Football of the Year last season, scored 18 goals in 31 League games for Marseille after joining from Guingamp.


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