Anelka Heads to China. Drogba to Follow

Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua have announced the signing of Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka. The French striker had been a target for Montrreal Impact.

He will move in the transfer window and not take part int tonight’s crunch match against Manchester City.

He may have company.

Shenhua director Zhou Jun has confirmed that they are now hoping to add his club team mate Didier Drogba. Talking to Reuters, he said:

“Drogba is an excellent player. We got in touch with him two weeks ago. From our club’s perspective, we have this to say: If he is willing to come, we will definitely welcome him. It’s like with the opening up of China. We needed to bring in the good stuff from foreign countries for us to learn from.”

One compatriot who will be joining Anelka is future head coach Jean Tigana.

“Tigana, from the looks of it currently, is not a big problem,” Zhou said. “When he was last in Shanghai he said the next time he is seen there it would be to coach Shenhua Football Club.”

Zhou made reference to Anelka’s likely massive salary when explaining why he was optimistic about the Ivorean Drogba.

“People are aware of Anelka’s Chelsea yearly salary which is around five million pounds. So when he comes to China it definitely won’t be below this figure.”

Dalian Aerbin are also hunting Drogba according to local reports.