Drogba will fly to join Shanghai Shenhua Football Club

Drogba had been strongly linked with a move to the Far East when he announced last month he was leaving Chelsea after scoring the decisive penalty for the London club in their Champions League final shootout victory over Bayern Munich.

The 34-year-old will join up with his new teammates in July, hoping to make an instant impact and help the side arrest a dismal start to the campaign which has left them sitting 12th in the 16-team league despite heavy investment.

No financial details of the two-and-a-half-year contract were revealed by Drogba or the club but widespread media reports said the Cote d'Ivoire striker would receive in the region of $300,000 a week.

"I have studied all the offers I had during the past few weeks and I have the feeling that going to Shanghai is the right direction for me now," Drogba said on his website ().

Shenhua‘s official website confirmed the news

"I am looking forward to that challenge, to discover a new culture and I am very enthusiastic about the development of the Chinese football league."

His signing is another coup for the reinvigorated Chinese Super League and Drogba will join former Chelsea team mate Nicolas Anelka in a powerful Shanghai forward line that is managed by former Argentina manager Sergio Batista.

Two old friends will cooperate in Shanghai again