Drogba wants to 'start from the beginning' with Shanghai Shenhua

Didier Drogba has once again committed his future to Shanghai Shenhua, insisting he wants to 'start again from the beginning' there.

Chelsea's Champions League-winning hero has been repeatedly linked with a return to the Barclays Premier League since moving to the Chinese Super League in the summer, including a mooted two-month loan to Liverpool. But the Ivory Coast striker, 34, told the Shanghai Morning Post his sole focus was on helping Shenhua improve on their ninth-placed finish when their new season begins in March.

"I hope next season I can start again from the beginning with Shenhua," he said.

"Because I joined relatively late, I didn't prepare with the team early in the season, so our results were not very good."

Drogba quit Chelsea for a reported £200,000-a-week payday in China and notched eight goals in 11 appearances for his new club.

But he has had to cope with more than one change of manager and a boardroom wrangle that sparked reports he and fellow Blues old boy Nicolas Anelka could have their lucrative contracts cancelled.