Nicolas Anelka has confirmed he is trying to lure Didier Drogba to China following his shock appointment to the Shanghai Shenhua coaching staff.
Confusion still surrounds Anelka’s exact position at the club he joined on £200,000 a week in January.
Reports suggest ex-Fulham boss Jean Tigana has either been sacked or resigned but the former France midfielder denies he has left the club.
Regardless of Anelka’s job title, he hopes to convince his old Chelsea strike partner to sign a lucrative deal in the Far East. He also wants former Paris St Germain team-mate Selim Benachour, currently with Maritimo.
“I hope Selim and Didier will quickly join us,” said Anelka. “I hope they come. It is up to the club to see if we have the right means.”
Anelka admitted his surprise at being appointed to the coaching staff but insisted he had no qualms about taking over from Tigana.
“I don’t know what happened with the coach, but it looked like an impasse,” he added. “As usual I will take on and try to seize the challenge, which is the greatest of my career. We start almost from scratch again.
“Florent Ibenge will take the daily training sessions. To assist us there will be Alioune Toure and Ian Walker for the keepers.”
Drogba, meanwhile, is only thinking about Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg clash with Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
The striker rounded on referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after the final whistle when Chelsea were knocked out by a last-gasp Barca goal in 2009 and received a hefty ban.
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He said: “It was a few years ago, so things have changed since then. But the desire is the same, the desire to beat them is the same. It’s not only bad memories — we have some good memories as well against Barcelona. Anything can happen.”
German Felix Brych — who refereed the 4-1 home win over Napoli last month — will take charge of Wednesday’s match.
