Everton favourite explains why Didier Drogba is behind 3 Premier League striker greats

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has been told he is not one of the all-time best three Premier League strikers by a defender who has plenty of experience going up against some of the best.

Drogba enjoyed a superb Premier League career that undoubtedly puts him in the conversation for being one of the best forwards to grace the league. The Ivorian won four Premier League titles with Chelsea, also racking up four FA Cups, three League Cups, two Community Shields and a Champions League.

Drogba scored 100 goals in 226 league appearances in his first spell at Stamford Bridge, and he returned to score four in 28 later in his career. Above all, the towering striker built a reputation on scoring and turning up in big moments, memorably scoring in all four FA Cup final wins, while also scoring both the equalising goal and the winning penalty in the Champions League final.

But however good Drogba was, he wasn’t the only top striker to play in the Premier League, and according to former Everton defender Alan Stubbs, he wouldn’t make it into his top three of best strikers.

“Drogba, a brilliant player, but I felt as though I could compete against him,” Stubbs said on the UndrTheCosh podcast. “I felt like I could give Drogba one and he would go missing for 10 or 15 minutes, then would come back.

“But on his day, I've never seen anyone physically jump as high as Drogba. When he wants to play, I couldn't do anything about it in terms of beating him in the air, because his leap and his strength would just be too much. He could jump more than you.”

Asked who the best three are, he added: “It would be Bergkamp, Shearer and Henry. They would be the three. I'm leaving Wayne (Rooney) out, but I can put him anywhere. He would even go in goal before training, and he would be like a cat. He loved it. David Moyes didn't love it. “

Drogba on his Chelsea career

Reflecting on his career back in 2018 when his he was commemorated at Stamford Bridge, Drogba said: “Who would have thought this kid from Ivory Coast would have his banner in the stadium of one of the biggest clubs in Europe?

"It was my dream, I think it was quite an achievement and I'm proud of this twenty years of football. When my early years in Ivory Coast as a young kid, always with his mum and dad, life was not difficult but it was not easy as well. My uncle who was living in Europe was coming back and forth, was always bringing sweets or footballs or shirts and I would be very curious to see what is happening there. I was excited to leave Ivory Coast and go to France until i got to the airport and my mum was in tears. I could see sadness in her face and then I realised that this six years old boy will leave his mum and dad to go to a place that he doesn't even know and as a kid I was sad too.

"In 1993 my parents came to France. I started as a right back and my uncle came to me 'why are you playing as a right back? Because in the family we only have strikers, you are a striker so don't play there no more'. When we moved to another city, I came and introduced myself as a striker which I had never played. Lucky enough that season I scored 40 goals, I think that's where everything starts."

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