THE KING IS BACK: AS DIDIER DROGBA SIGN A ONE-YEAR DEAL WITH CHELSEA

Drogba of course needs no introduction to the blue fans
When he came to the end of his previous contract in 2012 it was only weeks after he had stroked the ball from the penalty spot into the Bayern Munich net to place Chelsea on top of the European summit for the first time.
His earlier equalising header in that Champions League final was his 157th goal in 341 appearances, a total placing him fourth in the club's all-time highest-scorer list.
On signing his contract, Drogba said: ‘It was an easy decision - I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with Jose again.  Everyone knows the special relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me.

‘My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to the opportunity to help this team. I am excited for this next chapter of my career.’
Jose Mourinho said: ‘He’s coming because he’s one of the best strikers in Europe. I know his personality very well and I know if he comes back he’s not protected by history or what he’s done for this club previously. He is coming with the mentality to make more history.’
His 34 goals in European competition remains a Chelsea record, as do his nine strikes in nine cup finals.
During the Ivorian’s first eight years with the club, he won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups as well as the Champions League triumph. He has been named Chelsea's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year and has won the Premier League Golden Boot twice.
Since leaving Chelsea in 2012, he has played for Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, memorably making a return to Stamford Bridge last season when we beat the Turkish club in the Champions League Round of 16.
He has continued his international career and appeared in all three of Ivory Coast’s games at the World Cup, taking his caps total to 104 with 64 goals scored.

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Making amendment of past mistake: As Frank Lampard promises to visit 9/11 memorial

Frank Lampard has promised to visit the New York memorial dedicated to victims of the September 11 terror atrocity after insisting that he did not mean to insult them during an infamous drinking binge 13 years ago.

The incident has been raked up in the United States after it was confirmed that Lampard will play for New York City FC following his release from Chelsea.

The England midfielder was one of four Chelsea players fined two weeks’ wages in 2001 when they allegedly swore and vomited in front of shocked US tourists at a Heathrow Airport hotel just 24 hours after the terror attack on the Twin Towers.

 

 

Speaking at his unveiling as a New York player on Thursday against the backdrop of downtown Manhattan which was once dominated by the towers, Lampard said: ‘I categorically did not set out to insult anyone or behave badly in front of the Americans and this is an excellent chance to say that. I’m very sensitive to the issue and the tragedy.

‘I was naive and a young boy at the time. I was out on a day I shouldn’t have been — I certainly wouldn’t do it today. I’ve tried in the last 13 years at Chelsea to be not just a good footballer, but a good man off the pitch.’

Asked if he would go the permanent memorial at what was once Ground Zero, Lampard replied: ‘It’s a huge memorial and I will certainly go there to pay my respects.’

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Chelsea would gladly accept the return of Didier Drogba- Jose Mourinho

Chelsea would welcome back Didier Drogba if a deal can be worked out, Jose Mourinho said on Thursday, with the Blues manager insisting that "Didier belongs to us."
Drogba's contract at Galatasaray expired at the end of last season and he is currently a free agent.
The 36-year-old striker spent eight years at Stamford Bridge from 2004-2012 and scored the equaliser and winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League final. He then left for one-year stints in China and Turkey.
But Drogba is leaning toward rejoining the Blues rather than accepting an offer to play for Juventus or in Major League Soccer, according to The Telegraph, and Mourinho said Chelsea would love to have him.
"We want to win matches and win titles, and Didier is one of the best strikers in Europe, who is still very adapted to the needs of the Premier League, and we are thinking about it in a non-emotional way," said Mourinho.
"If you bring him back, it is not because he is Didier or scored the most important goal in the history of Chelsea, or because I read I need an assistant, no.
"If I bring him back -- and the decision has to be made soon, because I want to close the dressing-room door -- it is because as a player he has certain qualities to make the team stronger."
Mourinho also said Drogba has the full support of owner Roman Abramovich, and revealed the personal attachments the Russian billionaire has toward his players.
"Mr Abramovich does not speak a lot," Mourinho said. "But as you can imagine, he is very intelligent and he feels that people belong to the club. We feel that Didier belongs to us."
Although Chelsea said farewell to 36-year-old talisman Frank Lampard earlier this summer, Mourinho said Drogba's age would not greatly affect his spot on the squad.
"I was not a top professional player," said Mourinho. "I communicate a lot with players and former players to understand the situation better.
"When they become older, the point is not to lose quality as a player, it is about how they recover from match to match.
"A young kid plays today and in 48 hours is ready to play the next game. And in a season can play 50 matches. Between 20 something and 30, they are the same good players, same football brains. It is important how they recover from match to match.
"With Didier's profile, being a squad player I think could be important for any team. And because we know his heart is pushing him to where he feels he belongs, and because our boss has this big feeling towards him, we are thinking about the possibility."

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Nicki Minaj's expose her Butt in Cover Art of her new single 'Anaconda'

Nicki Minaj set frenzy on Instagram on Thursday, July 24 as she unveiled the cover art of her new single "Anaconda". Featuring no sight of the titular animal, the artwork sees the rapper baring her famous butt in a sexy G-string and a pink sports bra.

The risque shot features Minaj seductively facing back while squatting. The 31-year-old artist exposed her renowned back in the barely-there ensemble. Thanks to the image, the hashtag #Anaconda quickly became a trending topic on Twitter on top of the highly-anticipated trailer of "Fifty Shades of Grey".

Minaj also posted two other photos that fans had created based on the cover photo. One fan photoshopped it onto a T-shirt and Minaj commented, "U guys waste no time." Another put her booties as the double "O" in Google. Showing her sense of humor, she wrote, "Doing the most. Who did this??? Google my ass. Only time u on the net is when u #GoogleMyAss. Memba that line? What song?"

Produced by Polow Da Don and Da Internz, "Anaconda" is the latest single off her upcoming album "The Pink Print". It will be released on iTunes on July 28. The music video has been shot in Los Angeles by video director Colin Tilley and should be premiered soon.

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Setting World Record with the Big Bird: As a 17year-old pilot dead at sea in an attempt to set world record

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. An aerial endeavor that would take 17-year-old pilot Haris Suleman and his father, Babar, around the world in just 30 days and into the record books.

The journey, months in the planning, would take the pair on a 26,500-mile odyssey, with 25 stops planned in 15 countries. The aim was to raise funds for a charity in Pakistan that helps poverty-stricken children go to school.

Instead, the American teenager is now confirmed dead and his father is missing after their plane crashed into the ocean off American Samoa on Tuesday night.

Haris had been due home in Indiana on Saturday, his sister Hiba Suleman told reporters Wednesday.

His body has been recovered, she said. But their father, also a pilot, has not been found.

"We're hoping my dad is alive and well, and we're going to keep praying until we have a definitive answer," Hiba Suleman said.

She told reporters the plane was about 23 miles from the island when it crashed. Her father wouldn't have let Haris take off if the weather was bad, she said.

It is unclear why the plane crashed or why the duo took off at night.

"He was doing something that he loved. He was doing something adventurous," she said of her brother, who received his pilot's license in June. And he was doing it for a good cause, she added.

The principal of the high school where Haris was a rising senior said the school was deeply saddened by his death.

"Haris' adventurous spirit and huge heart led him to reaching for this personal goal while also seeking to raise funds and awareness for schools supported by The Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan," said Melvin Siefert, principal of Plainfield High School.

A soccer coach at the school told the Indianapolis Star that Haris was a great student and a talented player.

"Haris loved to joke a lot," David Knueve told the newspaper. "He just got the team sort of laughing at the right moments."

His sister said Haris planned to be an engineer like his father.

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Arsenal needs player that always want more- Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he looks for passion and drive when he is recruiting young players for the club.
At an Emirates Business Breakfast at the team hotel in New York, Wenger discussed the three characteristics that drive successful people, both inside and outside sport.
"There is the kid who battles with himself, the real champions, the guy who is driven by an inner motivation and has a consistent desire to be better because he has to be better," he said in quotes reported on Arsenal's official website.
"The second guy battles with others. He wants to show others he is better than them and he is ready to go out and show that. The third guy is a different case, he wants to be respected by others.
"At the top level of competition you find these types of people. They have a mixture of the three characteristics but there is a dominant one there. I personally am inner driven. You want people who are consistently driven, you want ones like dogs who always want more. We try to identify that and try to make them stars."
Later, in a news conference ahead of the game against the New York Red Bulls this weekend, the French boss bemoaned the "impossible" schedule of preseason games after a World Cup and ahead of a new Premier League campaign.
"These training camps in the modern game are decided for commercial reasons and because of the extent of popularity of the club," he said. "We've never been to the States before and I was very happy to come to New York -- a city I love.
"But for purely football reasons, the best thing to do is stay and not travel too much because of the time you waste and the jet-lag you suffer is not ideal.
"This season is a post-World Cup year and very difficult because the time is very short between the final, which was on July 13, and the start of the new season on August 16.
"And compulsory, from FIFA, you are obliged to give four weeks holiday to the players, so I don't know how all that works together. It looks, to me, impossible."

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