Didier Drogba - The Biography

Didier DrogbaÖthe name strikes fear into defenders throughout football and excites soccer fans around the world. The giant forward is one of the most charismatic figures of the modern era and his life story is as amazing as some of the goals which have turned him into a hero on two continents. Born in 1978 into a large family in a poor suburb of Abidjan, the teeming capital of the troubled African state of Ivory Coast, he was sent to live in France with an uncle, a professional footballer, at the tender age of five. His bank worker parents were devastated to see him leave but realised that this was his chance to 'succeed in life.' The infant Drogba didn't see them for three years as he travelled around France with his uncle who moved from club to club. Returning home to more heartache - his parents were to lose their jobs in the struggling economy - it was decided he should return to France for good. But the story was only just beginning. His parents banned him from football for a year so he could devote more time to his schoolwork, but eventually he signed with French side Le Mans before moving to newly-promoted Guingamp; as the goals started to flow he also became an Ivory Coast international. It was when he moved to one of France's biggest sides, Olympique Marseilles, that the awesome talent of the 6 feet 2 inches tall striker - who, amazingly, had started out as a full back - fully emerged onto the world stage. He became French Footballer of the Season and was nominated as a candidate for World Player of the Year as the goal-rush began, prompting Chelsea to splash out a club-record fee of £24 million tobring him to Stamford Bridge where another battle faced him. This time he had to win the hearts of the fans of the super-rich club boosted by the billions of owner Roman Abramovitch and run by controversial coach Jose Mourinho. Meanwhile, idolised as captian of 'The Elephants', his country's national side, his goals and commitment were eventually to win over the London club's supporters. Along the way he caused a storm when he went on television and apparently confessed to 'diving' in opposition penalty areas, and his sending off in a brutal Championship League clash with Barcelona led to one of the world's top referee quitting the game after death threats to his family. He even had to face competition for his place from the world's most expensive footballeer, the £30 million Ukrainian goal-machine Andriy Shevchenko. Now one of the highest-paid footballers in the world, his amazing life story reveals the struggle of his early years, his battle for acceptance on and off the football field and the candid truth about rivalry with Shevchenko in a story that really is stanger than fiction.

John McShane worked as a reporter in Fleet Street covering conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Ireland before becoming associated editor of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror. He is the author of the highly-acclaimed biography of Arsenal favourite Perry Groves. He is married with three children and has homes in London and Spain.