Reports are intensifying that Juventus are close to signing Didier Drogba on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January.

The rumours of interest have been going for some considerable time, but over the last few hours more sources emerged on their negotiations.

Now ESPN have joined the Italian media in claiming a deal is very close to completion and could be announced over the next few days.

The 34-year-old has been training with his former club Chelsea during the Chinese close season and FIFA ruled he could not make a transfer before the January 1 deadline.

There is a problem in this move, as Drogba would join Juve only to leave again immediately for the African Cup of Nations.

Not gonna happen!

actually its very likely that's going to happen :/

Well it's not a very smart move if it does happen! His wage is around 10m a year and he is going to go straight to AFCON in January and then when he returns after a couple of months or so he will need to fit into the tactics etc! Not worth it in my opinion!

inderbaby wrote:Well it's not a very smart move if it does happen! His wage is around 10m a year and he is going to go straight to AFCON in January and then when he returns after a couple of months or so he will need to fit into the tactics etc! Not worth it in my opinion!

we are offering him 4-6 mil

DeviAngel wrote:

inderbaby wrote:Well it's not a very smart move if it does happen! His wage is around 10m a year and he is going to go straight to AFCON in January and then when he returns after a couple of months or so he will need to fit into the tactics etc! Not worth it in my opinion!

we are offering him 4-6 mil

I just don't see it happening bro...he was a great player but the fact that he will be gone to AFCON he isn't really the immediate solution we need and he is definitely not a long term solution due to his age!

If anything, he is only a short term solution inder
He's an impact player and could play in the champions league- which would be the purpose

The problem is, would he be motivated, ready, fit enough to have an impact?
I mean, after going from China, to Africa, to Italy...

I see the intention I just don't think it's a practical transfer

That's exactly my feelings...great to think about having Drogba on our side but when you think about the practicalities of the move it doesn't seem like a viable solution!

I see the intention but there are a lot of unknowns and he could easily end up being no better than what we have however he could also do very well, like Beckham at Milan some years ago. Without the ACON I would be all for it, as such I'm on the fence.

From an economical point of view, if he scores the goals to get us to the next round of CL then he would have paid for his wages and I suppose thats the intention of bringing him to Torino.

lol Juve are about as close to him as Man City are

Drogbas whole family stayed in London after he moved to China, since the Chinese season ended hes moved back to London to be with his family again and has been training with Chelsea (he's been wearing Lukakus kit ). I really can't imagine he would leave his family and Chelsea to go on loan in a country where he doesnt speak the language to play for a club he has no affiliation or relation to when he has absoutley nothing to gain from it-hes already proved himself at the top level and im sure his financial situation is healthy

And with AFCON in Jan dont you think he'd want to go there give 100% and then come back knowing he can go to HIS home with HIS familyand put his feet up for a few weeks before pre-season starts in China rather then knowing he has to learn a new language while at the AFCON, then get on a plane and live out of a hotel room alone in a foregin coutry and go into intense training with players he doenst know, in a team hes not farmiliar with in a system hes never played in for a team he has no affiliation with and will in no way further his carear. Honestly think about it doesnt make any sense, what would Drogbas motivation be to go to Juve? this is just going to be the 2012/13 Michael Bastos

And how would he even helo Juve that much anyway? he'll be there for 1-2 months, he speaks zero Italian and hes never played with any of the current Juve players and hes never played in a system like Contes and i cant imagine him having any great amounts of motivation either

If you want a big CF go after Llorente, that transfer at least makes sense

Exactly what Fitman said, it's not going to Happen.

I never believed this deal is actually going through.

fatman123 wrote:lol Juve are about as close to him as Man City are

Drogbas whole family stayed in London after he moved to China, since the Chinese season ended hes moved back to London to be with his family again and has been training with Chelsea (he's been wearing Lukakus kit ). I really can't imagine he would leave his family and Chelsea to go on loan in a country where he doesnt speak the language to play for a club he has no affiliation or relation to when he has absoutley nothing to gain from it-hes already proved himself at the top level and im sure his financial situation is healthy

And with AFCON in Jan dont you think he'd want to go there give 100% and then come back knowing he can go to HIS home with HIS familyand put his feet up for a few weeks before pre-season starts in China rather then knowing he has to learn a new language while at the AFCON, then get on a plane and live out of a hotel room alone in a foregin coutry and go into intense training with players he doenst know, in a team hes not farmiliar with in a system hes never played in for a team he has no affiliation with and will in no way further his carear. Honestly think about it doesnt make any sense, what would Drogbas motivation be to go to Juve? this is just going to be the 2012/13 Michael Bastos

And how would he even helo Juve that much anyway? he'll be there for 1-2 months, he speaks zero Italian and hes never played with any of the current Juve players and hes never played in a system like Contes and i cant imagine him having any great amounts of motivation either

If you want a big CF go after Llorente, that transfer at least makes sense

some fair points in there but ... Champions always wanna return to their glory days, after they take some time off and see that family and peace is not enough... see the case of Lance Armstrong returning to le tour few years ago, kenemisa bekele to athletics etc.. They just can't sit outside the action to see others getting what they enjoyed.. They have high ambitions, and many of them take the life as a challenge.. I don't know if it's the case of Drogba, anyway if he comes to juve i'll support him, he always was a player that i enjoyed watching..

if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

fatman123 wrote:if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

Surag wrote:

fatman123 wrote:if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

thats like saying if Bradford City were the only team to show real interest in him he'd go there, just because Juve have shown interest in Drogba doest mean the feeling the mutual

fatman123 wrote:if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

Because he would be warming the bench at either of those 2 clubs and that might not be what he wants to do. Furthermore, because of his age, he naturally has to think short term so Chelsea are no longer in CL and depending how much damage Rafa does until he gets sacked, they may not be in CL next year either so although his heart may be with Chelsea, there is a lot of risk going there.

If he wants one last spell at the highest level with plenty of game time, Juve is an excellent option but he only gets 6 months and I doubt Juve will be happy about the AFCON so I think its no deal on both sides.

p.s. I think the try celebration in your signature is brilliant.

fatman123 wrote:

Surag wrote:

fatman123 wrote:if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

thats like saying if Bradford City were the only team to show real interest in him he'd go there, just because Juve have shown interest in Drogba doest mean the feeling the mutual

Thats such a horrible comparison.lol

I'm sure Drogba highly values the Italian league and we are leading the league currently.Besides we are not there in the CL just to make up the numbers,we are there in it to challenge for the CL crown.I mean nothing is impossible especially when you look at how your club triumphed last year.

Isnt it enticing enough for Drogba to consider us ? Not only does he have a chance to win more silverware but also the opportunity to lead our attack as far as the CL goes,champions like him would surely relish this challenge.I'm sure we are attempting to sign Drogba purely based on our CL aspirations since we have good enough attack anyways to win the league but not quite CL standard.

Surag wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Surag wrote:

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

thats like saying if Bradford City were the only team to show real interest in him he'd go there, just because Juve have shown interest in Drogba doest mean the feeling the mutual

Thats such a horrible comparison.lol

I'm sure Drogba highly values the Italian league and we are leading the league currently.Besides we are not there in the CL just to make up the numbers,we are there in it to challenge for the CL crown.I mean nothing is impossible especially when you look at how your club triumphed last year.

Isnt it enticing enough for Drogba to consider us ? Not only does he have a chance to win more silverware but also the opportunity to lead our attack as far as the CL goes,champions like him would surely relish this challenge.I'm sure we are attempting to sign Drogba purely based on our CL aspirations since we have good enough attack anyways to win the league but not quite CL standard.

...and that's what I call heart breaking!!!

Robbiejuve wrote:

fatman123 wrote:if he wanted to return to the top level why would he go to Juve over Chelsea and OM?

Because he would be warming the bench at either of those 2 clubs and that might not be what he wants to do. Furthermore, because of his age, he naturally has to think short term so Chelsea are no longer in CL and depending how much damage Rafa does until he gets sacked, they may not be in CL next year either so although his heart may be with Chelsea, there is a lot of risk going there.

If he wants one last spell at the highest level with plenty of game time, Juve is an excellent option but he only gets 6 months and I doubt Juve will be happy about the AFCON so I think its no deal on both sides.

p.s. I think the try celebration in your signature is brilliant.

fair enough he'd warm the bench at Chelsea because Rafa has to start his girlfriend every game and althoough Drogba wouldnt start at OM he'd still see a fair amount of football

cheers on the sig too

Surag wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Surag wrote:

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

thats like saying if Bradford City were the only team to show real interest in him he'd go there, just because Juve have shown interest in Drogba doest mean the feeling the mutual

Thats such a horrible comparison.lol

I'm sure Drogba highly values the Italian league and we are leading the league currently.Besides we are not there in the CL just to make up the numbers,we are there in it to challenge for the CL crown.I mean nothing is impossible especially when you look at how your club triumphed last year.

Isnt it enticing enough for Drogba to consider us ? Not only does he have a chance to win more silverware but also the opportunity to lead our attack as far as the CL goes,champions like him would surely relish this challenge.I'm sure we are attempting to sign Drogba purely based on our CL aspirations since we have good enough attack anyways to win the league but not quite CL standard.

Im also sure Drogba would place great value on winning the Serie A, or at least the Coppa, both of which hes got a good chance of doing at Juve, and like you said, you never know with the CL, after Barca RM and Bayern Juve are the next best side imo so why not and Drogba would add the experience and quality Juve are missing up front to make them a real CL heavy weight

I'm sure the idea of playing for a top team in a top league one more time is very enticing for Drogba and even more so now that he wont have to play against any of his former clubs, but like i said in my first post in this thread him going to Juve wouldnt be practical due to the language and tactical barriers etc. Also it did take Drogba a while to learn English (not that he was trying to at the time) which would make things harder too, and i doubt theres many Juve players who speak French or English

Lucio,Lichtsteiner,Chiellini,Pogba,Asamoah,Bendtner maybe even Vucinic but i'm not sure ,Vidal would've learnt a bit of English as well while at Germany(including Barzagli while he was at Wolfsburg),Buffon can speak a bit of English here and there but its mostly broken.I read Conte himself is taking some time off to learn English.

Vidal was integrated into the team right away even if he couldnt speak Italian..Its a minor problem for a Champion and a true professional like Drogba as far as i am concerned.

And he's perfect for our 3-5-2 system too imo..For his work ethic ,his very good holdup play and his strength most importantly he's a better finisher than anyone we've currently got.

Surag wrote:

fatman123 wrote:

Surag wrote:

Well duh...Because we are the only team so far that has shown concrete interest in him ?

thats like saying if Bradford City were the only team to show real interest in him he'd go there, just because Juve have shown interest in Drogba doest mean the feeling the mutual

Thats such a horrible comparison.lol

I'm sure Drogba highly values the Italian league and we are leading the league currently.Besides we are not there in the CL just to make up the numbers,we are there in it to challenge for the CL crown.I mean nothing is impossible especially when you look at how your club triumphed last year.

Isnt it enticing enough for Drogba to consider us ? Not only does he have a chance to win more silverware but also the opportunity to lead our attack as far as the CL goes,champions like him would surely relish this challenge.I'm sure we are attempting to sign Drogba purely based on our CL aspirations since we have good enough attack anyways to win the league but not quite CL standard.

right

Il Trap on Drogba:

“The right name is Drogba. He is perfect and for the Champions League. He has class, experience and with Vucinic would create a good understanding."

Drogba would be an excellent addition to our team for two years. I wouldn't give him a longer contract than that. Also, I'm sure he is strongly considering a move to Juve. Any claims that Juve is not prestigious enough for him are ridiculous.

Don't doubt his abilities to get his motor going for matches at this point in his career. Drogba has given has always given his all. He is a true champion. He virtually carried Chelsea to the UCL title.

I will gladly take Drogba at his age. He is exactly the type of player we need in attack at this time. He's not the long-term answer, but he's the right answer right now.