Liverpool target Chelsea legend to ease their striker issues

Brendan Rodgers will attempt to solve his striker situation by signing Didier Drogba on a loan deal during the Chinese off-season.

Liverpool have shown signs of turning their poor fortunes around in recent weeks but, for all their endeavour, are still lacking in goals. This has seen their price to finish in the top-four drift to 15/2 ahead of the Merseyside derby.

The Ivorian powerhouse would be the perfect man to spearhead the Reds’ attack, with the pace and ingenuity of Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling either side of him sure to create hatfuls of chances.

His current side, Shanghai Shenhua, are set to finish their domestic campaign next week, which could see Drogba become the target of a short-term deal that the likes of Landon Donovan and David Beckham have been subject to while their parent clubs are disengaged from domestic action.

In establishing himself as a Stamford Bridge legend, Drogba netted 100 Premier League goals in Chelsea blue, as well as scoring the decisive penalty in last season’s Champions League triumph.

He’s helped himself to 10 goals in just eight appearances in the Chinese league. The degree of ease in which he is flourishing in Shanghai, despite his advancing years, suggests he still has the ability to perform in England’s top flight.

Strength is his forte; through holding the ball up and bring surrounding players into the game, Suarez, in particular, who sometimes suffers when having to lead the line by himself, would be a big benefactor.

Drogba’s ability to find the back of the net will also relieve a lot of pressure from the Uruguayan who, for the bags of talent he possesses, misses plenty of guilt-edge chances in games.

His partnership with Andy Carroll, a similar player to Drogba, did not produce the goods Kenny Dalglish had banked on it doing, yet that is because he played them as a pair, not as part of a front three, expecting Suarez to feed off Carroll’s knock-downs.

Obviously, that isn’t his game.

His football-brain and off-the-ball intelligence allow him to find space others wouldn’t and, with Drogba causing problems at the pinnacle of the attack, he would find holes in defences a lot easier to come by.

The biggest stumbling block for the deal would be Ivory Coast’s involvement in the African Cup of Nations.
This starts in January, when Liverpool would be free to make a move, and should he be called up to the squad, signing him would prove futile, as his commitments in China resume following the tournament’s conclusion.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date