By Daniel Arambur, republicworld.com
Former PSG and Real Madrid assistant coach Paul Clement has revealed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic once said Chelsea legend Didier Drogba was not as good as him.
In a recent interview with Goal.com, Paul Clement said: “Zlatan Ibrahimovic does it very openly, speaks very confidently — and at times arrogant — but that is what he is.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Can be candid at times
“He used to be like that on a daily basis and would ask me questions such as: ‘What is Didier Drogba like?’ I would go into detail about what he is good at and Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be like, ‘He is not as good as me’ and would make you laugh.”
Clement said this as he talked of the training methods and the mentality behind star footballers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“They were both very professional on and off the field. The way they looked after their bodies with recovery, knowledge of nutrition.
Advertising: Fruitila Orange Squash from Rab
Processors
“At his house in Madrid, Cristiano had special recovery facilities that you would find at a club or a health spa.
He had a cold plunge; he really invested in his profession and health. Those type of people go the extra mile.”
Drogba the all-time top scorer for Côte d’Ivoire which he captained and he is best known for his career at Chelsea for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player.
Chelsea legend Drogba
He currently the club’s fourth highest goal scorer of all time and was named African Footballer of the Year twice in 2006 and 2009.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans and signed his first professional contract aged 21.
After finishing the 2002-03 season with 17 goals in 34 appearances for Ligue 1 side Guingqmp, he moved to Olympique de Marseille where he finished as the third highest scorer in the 2003-04 season with 19 goals and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup final.
In July 2004, Drogba moved to Chelsea for a club record £24 million fee, making him the most expensive Ivorian player in history.
In his debut season he helped the club win their first league title in 50 years and a year later he won another Premier League title.
His displays saw him named in the FIFA World XI for 2007 and in March 2012, he became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals.
Just two months later, he scored in Chelsea’s 2012 FA Cup final win win over Liverpool to become the first (and as of 2017, the only) player to score in four separate FA Cup finals.
He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final in which he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the deciding shoot-out against Bayern Munich.
The former Côte d’Ivoire captain
After spending 6 months with Shanghai Shenhua in China, and one and a half seasons with Turkish club Gatarasaray where he scored the winning goal in the final of the 2013 Turkish Super Cup, Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014.
With a career record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals, winning 10 trophies at club level, Drogba has been referred to as the “ultimate big game player.”
He joined Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2015 as a Designated Player and played 41 matches over two seasons, scoring 23 goals.
Drogba became a player–owner for Phoenix Rising of the United Soccer League in 2017, and retired a year later at the age of 40.
A Côte d’Ivoire international between 2002 and 2014, Drogba captained the national team from 2006 until his retirement from the and is the nation’s all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals from 105 appearances.
He led Côte d’Ivoire to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament, and also scored their first goal.
With former teammate Yaya Toure
He later captained Côte d’Ivoire at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and he was part of Côte d’Ivoire squads that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2012 but were beaten on penalties on both occasions.
On 8 August 2014, he announced his retirement from international football and in 2018, Drogba retired from professional football at the age of 40.
On 11 December, 2018, he became the vice-president of the international organization Peace and Sport.