Sulky-if-a-bit-brilliant Moscow Chelski FC striker Didier Drogba is likely to miss the start of the season after undergoing a groin operation. The club described the procedure performed on the Cote D'Ivoire international as 'minimally invasive.' Which is meaningless. It is expected that Drogba, thirty two (but, with a mental age of six), will return to full training in about three weeks. That estimate would, however, put him out of the Charity Shield match against The Scum on 8 August and the start of the Premier League campaign a week later. A short statement on Chelsea's official website said that Drogba had been troubled by a groin injury for part of last season and the decision to have the operation on Friday was intended to 'optimise his rehabilitation.' 
Or, 'fix it' as we normal people say. Drogba has been a prolific scorer for Chelsea since joining them from French club Olympique Marseille in July 2004 for a reported fee of twenty four million smackers and was on target thirty seven times for his club during the 2009-10 season to help London's only Russian club to a first Premier League and FA Cup Double. He then went to the World Cup with the Cote D'Ivoire squad and despite fracturing his right arm in a pre-tournament warm-up game, played in all three group matches wearing a protective cast. Drogba scored in the 3-1 defeat by Brazil as Les Elephants failed to progress to the last sixteen. Chelsea have a series of injury concerns ahead of the new Premier League campaign, which they will begin with a home match against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion on 14 August. New signing Yossi Benayoun also has a groin problem - maybe it's contagious - first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech is expected to be out for about a month because of a calf injury and defender Alex hurt his thigh in training. Chelsea's defender Ricardo Carvalho has, in effect, issued a 'come and get me, big boys' plea by saying it would be 'a dream' to join his former boss, Jose Mourinho, at Real Madrid. 'If there was a possibility to sign with Real Madrid, I would go there right now swimming or running,' he said in an interview published Saturday in Spanish sports newspaper AS. Some - minimal - tough times ahead at Torpedo Stamford Bridge, perhaps?
Or, 'fix it' as we normal people say. Drogba has been a prolific scorer for Chelsea since joining them from French club Olympique Marseille in July 2004 for a reported fee of twenty four million smackers and was on target thirty seven times for his club during the 2009-10 season to help London's only Russian club to a first Premier League and FA Cup Double. He then went to the World Cup with the Cote D'Ivoire squad and despite fracturing his right arm in a pre-tournament warm-up game, played in all three group matches wearing a protective cast. Drogba scored in the 3-1 defeat by Brazil as Les Elephants failed to progress to the last sixteen. Chelsea have a series of injury concerns ahead of the new Premier League campaign, which they will begin with a home match against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion on 14 August. New signing Yossi Benayoun also has a groin problem - maybe it's contagious - first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech is expected to be out for about a month because of a calf injury and defender Alex hurt his thigh in training. Chelsea's defender Ricardo Carvalho has, in effect, issued a 'come and get me, big boys' plea by saying it would be 'a dream' to join his former boss, Jose Mourinho, at Real Madrid. 'If there was a possibility to sign with Real Madrid, I would go there right now swimming or running,' he said in an interview published Saturday in Spanish sports newspaper AS. Some - minimal - tough times ahead at Torpedo Stamford Bridge, perhaps?
