Real Madrid settles for Drogba

25.04.2008

REAL Madrid management has settled on Chelsea striker Didier Drogba as its top attacking transfer target for the summer market.
DiarioSport says Real chiefs have agreed to focus their efforts on signing Drogba ahead of Ajax’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar because of the Ivorian’s greater experience and ability to handle the pressure of playing for a major European club.

Real sports director Pedja Mijatovic will now accelerate talks with Chelsea over a fee for Drogba, well aware that AC Milan and Inter are also chasing the 30 year-old.

Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has played questions about a move to Chelsea with a straight bat. “I’m not someone who makes plans,” Rijkaard told The Independent. “If I work somewhere then I am not thinking about other things. First, I finish the job here.”

When asked about whether his phlegmatic approach would work in West London, Rijkaard rejected the notion that his mantra for success is ‘slowly-slowly’. “Not slowly,” he added. “The faster is the better.

“My personal fulfillment comes from the way I work with people, but the goal is to win and to give the best that you can and to have a team that can perform and make the fans proud. “That is the goal. And that is ambitious.”