Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has told his team-mates that he is leaving the club this summer and says he is preparing “for new challenges” away from Stamford Bridge.

Drogba, 34, scored a dramatic late equaliser for the Blues in Saturday’s Champions League final before netting the crucial penalty in the shootout as he ended the club’s long wait for a Champions League trophy.

But it seems the Ivory Coast international’s decisive contributions in Munich were his last for the club, as he is planning to go on another journey of football after eight years in West London.

“I will not be joining my teammates next season,” Drogba said as he has decided to leave Stamford Bridge for good although he wanted to tell them to their faces but they him break down, therefore making it hard for me to admit that i was leaving the club for he does not envisage himself sitting on the bench watching others play at a time when the club is looking at putting together a new team.”

Drogba’s team-mates chanted for him to stay in front of jubilant Chelsea fans during Sunday’s victory parade, but the striker’s future now appears certain to be elsewhere.

Reports say Drogba is looking at joining former strike partner Nicolas Anelka in China, he is currently player-manager at Shanghai Shenhua; a big-spending club.