Drogba decided to leave Chelsea at the end of last season after scoring the winning penalty in the UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

The 34-year-old was linked with several clubs, and was reported to have attracted interest from the Middle East and Major League Soccer.

However, Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua were always favourites to land the Ivory Coast international, who has agreed a two-and-a-half year contract.

The ex-Marseille forward is looking forward to the new challenge and the move will see him reunited with former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka.

Zhu Jun, owner of Shanghai Shenhua FC, said: "We have been wanting to sign Didier for a while, and are very happy that it has finally happened.

"He is an incredible player, who has won so many trophies in his career, we feel that his experience and ability will be a very valuable asset to our squad. "Shanghai is one of the most influential cities in the world, and we are very excited to welcome Didier here."

德羅巴官網(wǎng)確認消息英文全文：

"I have considered all the offers I have received in the past few weeks, but feel that Shanghai Shenhua FC is the right move for me at this time," said Drogba.

"I am looking forward to a new challenge, to experiencing a new culture, and excited about the new developments in the Chinese Super League.

"When Chelsea went to China last year, we had a great time and I met some amazing fans.

"I hope to help promote Chinese football around the world and further improve the links between China and Africa.'"

【新聞快訊】

北京時間6月20日下午，前切爾西前鋒，科特迪瓦球星德羅巴在其官方網(wǎng)站中正式宣布加盟中超上海申花隊。魔獸年薪高達1200萬歐元，他將和切爾西隊的前隊友阿內(nèi)爾卡再次相聚。

申花隊老板朱駿對德羅巴的到來表示熱烈歡迎，他表示：“德羅巴是超凡的球星，他的加盟會給申花隊帶來極大的好處?！钡铝_巴現(xiàn)年34歲，他剛剛在上賽季歐冠聯(lián)賽決賽中幫助切爾西隊戰(zhàn)勝拜仁慕尼黑隊，獲得歐冠冠軍。

德羅巴在個人官方網(wǎng)站中表示：“我很高興在今天確認與中超上海申花隊簽約。我與申花俱樂部簽署了一份為期2年半的合約，合約將至2014年12月31日，我將在7月正式加入球隊?！?/p>

“我認真權衡了最近幾周提供給我的合約，我認為加盟上海申花隊對我來說是正確的選擇。我期待著這次新的挑戰(zhàn)，期待著全新的文化，希望通過自己的努力提升中國足球和中國聯(lián)賽的水平。當上賽季我隨切爾西隊來到中國，我度過了美妙的時光，感受了中國熱情的球迷。”

“同時，我也希望我能夠為推進中非友誼作出自己的貢獻?！?/p>