10 Greatest Foreign Premier League Players Of All Time

6. Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba arrived at Chelsea for £24m from Marseille in the summer of 2004, and big things were expected of the Ivorian. Jose Mourinho had just taken charge of the west London club, and Drogba was seen as the man who would take them to the next level. In his first season in the Premier League he failed to hit the heights many expected of him though. 10 goals in 26 league games was not a particularly memorable return, and he struggled to justify his hefty fee. He improved from that point on, however, and although he was never as consistently prolific as someone like Thierry Henry, the amount he gave the team in terms of hold-up play and assists was magnificent. He was at the absolute peak of his powers during the 2009/2010 campaign, scoring 29 goals in just 32 Premier League appearances as Chelsea won the title. At his best he was simply unplayable, with a combination of pace, power, skill and finishing making him a truly world-class striker. There has not been a player who delivered in the big games more than Drogba did either, with the likes of United, Liverpool, Arsenal and numerous top European clubs all feeling the wrath of him time and time again. Having scored the winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich he left for Galatasaray, before making a shock return to Stamford Bridge this summer. His goal against United on Sunday shows that he can still be effective, even at 36 years of age.