Football
ESPN staff 9y

Didier Drogba aims to bring winning mentality to Montreal Impact

New Montreal Impact signing Didier Drogba wants to bring a winning mentality to the MLS club but said he would not be looking to be treated as a "superstar."

Drogba, 37, spent much of his career with Chelsea and scored 164 goals in 381 appearances across his two spells with the Premier League side, helping the club to win silverware including four Premier League titles and the 2012 Champions League.

Now he is bringing his game and goal-scoring touch to Montreal after the Impact traded allocation money to the Chicago Fire to acquire the rights to the Ivorian.

Montreal is sixth in the Eastern Conference table and well within reach of the playoffs, so winning games is a priority for the club and its latest addition.

"I'm not here to change the way players play or the system -- that's up to the coach," Drogba told reporters and fans at his news conference on Thursday night. "I think what I can bring is a mentality. I came here to win. Believe me, if I wasn't able to do that I wouldn't be here.

"And the Impact, I saw a few of their [CONCACAF] Champions League matches where the team had a great run, with the help of their fans. That's the kind of experience I want to have here. I like challenges."

Drogba is by some distance the most high-profile signing in Impact's history and his arrival should help reignite excitement and boost ticket sales, which have been flagging this season.

However, he said he wanted to be treated as just another player among his teammates.

"I wasn't a superstar before I joined big teams like Marseille and Chelsea and the others so I know how it feels," Drogba said. "A superstar is just the way people look at you, but in the dressing room you're the same.

"I played with Frank Lampard, John Terry and I played against good players like [Steven] Gerrard, [Andrea] Pirlo, and they are simple guys. We are human beings. All I can try to do is give back to those players who want to learn and I think I am also going to learn from them."

Drogba will meet his Impact teammates on Friday and begin training soon after. The team has not yet announced when he will make his first appearance for the Impact, which plays an away match against New York City FC on Saturday.

Drogba will be the Impact's No. 11 after teammate Dilly Duka, who previously had the shirt, allowed the Ivorian to continue wearing the number for his new club.

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