Chelsea legend Didier Drogba offers his hospital as coronavirus treatment centre

Didier Drogba has offered his hospital as a coronavirus treatment centre with Ivory Coast fearing a rise in cases.

The hospital is located in the Attecoube district in the Ivorian capital of Abidjan and opened in 2016.

It was named after former Ivory Coast footballer Laurent Pokou, who died aged 69, the same year the hospital opened.

National hero Drogba has since offered the building to help fight the killer disease.

Vincent Toh Bi Irie, the head of Abidjan’s regional council, thanked Drogba for the patriotic gesture.

He said: “We thank Drogba for this gift considered as an act of patriotism.”

Photo Credit: Twitter

Chelsea, Arsenal target flattered by interest, eyes Real Madrid summer exit

Borussia Dortmund star Achraf Hakimi says he is flattered by interest from a host of Premier League clubs and suggested he is open to a summer move.

The Moroccan is due to return to Real Madrid when his loan spell ends at the end of the season, but he may well leave the Spanish giants if he does not get guarantees about playing time.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have all ben linked and when asked if he was flattered by the interest, Achraf told Cadena SER: “Who does not like it? I am proud of what I am doing.

“In June I will have to make a decision and it will be a great step for my career. In theory, my contract ends in June and from there I have to return to Madrid.

“I have not yet had contact with Madrid on this matter, but I imagine that soon we will have some conversation to find out what is best for me.”

Photo Credit: Twitter@Borussia Dortmund

Frank Lampard reveals Chelsea transfer strategies

Frank Lampard has revealed Chelsea have a number of transfer strategies in place which are dependent on how the coronavirus pandemic unfolds.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Football Show, the Blues boss said: “We have good young players, we have experienced players around them that have helped them this year.

“But we know there are little areas within the squad [we can improve]. Some of that’s what we have already, some of that’s how we might look to recruit going forward.

“This period now with what’s going on in the world has made it very difficult to plan too much on [transfers], how this is going to look in weeks or months going forward. We have to have different versions of plans going forward in terms of how it looks.”

REVEALED: How Roman Abramovich rejected Tottenham’s 29.9 percent shares and bought Chelsea instead

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich rejected buying shares in Tottenham after chairman Daniel Levy tried to convince him to take a minority stake.

Mark Taylor, the former Chelsea director, claimed on the Straight Outta Cobham podcast that the Russian businessman was in talks to buy the Blues’ rivals, Spurs, before he took control at Stamford Bridge.

Abramovich went to see Levy the day before he met with Chelsea’s then-chairman Ken Bates with his colleague Eugene Tenenbaum, but Taylor said the Tottenham chief tried to sell him a chunk of the club after he asked about a majority stake.

“The key point was that when Ken met Roman and Eugene Tenenbaum they made it very clear that they wanted to buy control,” Taylor explained to The Athletic.

“I think the story is they had seen Daniel Levy the previous day and he’d tried to sell them 29.9 per cent of Tottenham but they didn’t want a minority stake, they wanted control.”

The decision ended up working wonders for Chelsea, with Abramovich taking charge in June 2003 and immediately improving the club on and off the pitch, report the Sportsmail.

Since the 53-year-old’s reign began at Stamford Bridge, the club have won 16 major trophies including five Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League and five FA Cups.

“Chelsea had been looking for investors for about 18 months and we’d had a lot of time-wasters and Roman seemed viable,” Taylor added.

“Nobody really knew who he was – and so on the Friday morning his lawyers brought in Forbes magazine from America and I think he was No 15 on the list with X billion dollars, which seemed to be quite a good starting point.”

Chelsea handed lifeline over summer move for Serie A’s prolific striker

Chelsea could be ready to make a second bid for Napoli talisman Dries Mertens – after it emerged he has NOT signed a new deal with the Italians.

Italian newspaper Gazetto dello Sport explains the stalemate could stem from the forward’s demand for any fines being donated to charity being rejected by President Aurelio De Laurentiis.

The Belgian was among the Napoli players who went on strike in November, refusing to go on a punitive training retreat that De Laurentiis had organised.

Mertens was also said to be unhappy with Napoli’s decision to lay off several non-playing staff due to coronavirus.

That could pave the way for Blues boss Frank Lampard to step in and make the Belgian his second signing.

Lamps has already wrapped up a £38million deal for Ajax star Hakim Ziyech.

It is shaping up to be a busy summer at Stamford Bridge, with plenty of comings and goings.

Willian is out of contract and is tossing up a move to Spurs or to head abroad.

Pedro, N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud are also unwanted men at Chelsea.

Blues have been in for Mertens in the past.

They reportedly made a failed bid in January – while Inter Milan are also after the 32-year-old.

Aubameyang told to leave Arsenal

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been advised to leave Arsenal by the Gabon FA president Pierre Alain Mounguengui.

The Gabon striker will be out of contract at the end of the 2020/21 season and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is keen for the Gunners captain to sign fresh terms with the club, rather than risk losing him on a free as they did with Aaron Ramsey last season.

“I don’t want to say that Arsenal aren’t ambitious, but Arsenal don’t have ambitions as high as some other clubs as far as Europe is concerned,” Mounguengui told ESPN. “So if Pierre could secure a contract with a more ambitious club, he would definitely find his place there.

“On an individual level, we all consider him to be among the best players in the world, but the advice I give to him is to continue to work and to attract the attention of the biggest clubs and the most ambitious clubs.

“Aubameyang is a world-class player. But for him, or anyone else in Europe who hasn’t won a major honour, football is a collective sport. Right now, he’s at Arsenal, and he’s won nothing here, so it’s a collective failing.”