Marseille fail in Drog approach

Drogba: Marseille target

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Marseille have contacted Chelsea regarding Didier Drogba but chief executive Peter Kenyon is not prepared to allow the striker to leave.

Speculation has continually linked Drogba with a move away from Stamford Bridge this season as a reunion with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan is a reported possibility.

Inter have constantly rejected rumours of their interest, but Marseille have confirmed that they have tested the Blues' desire to keep hold of the Ivory Coast international, who left the Stade Velodrome for England in 2004.

Drogba - who has been dropped for Wednesday's FA Cup trip to Southend - has previously admitted that Mourinho was the only reason he left Marseille but a return to his previous club looks unlikely.

"I called Peter Kenyon to sound him out about Didier Drogba," Marseille owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus told French daily L'Equipe.

Enquiry

"But they absolutely do not want to let him go."

Marseille have previously admitted that Drogba would have been too expensive for a French club and Louis-Dreyfus has revealed that he has been looking elsewhere.

Louis-Dreyfus has contacted Inter regarding Brazilian forward Adriano - who has been linked with Tottenham - and Bayern Munich about Lukas Podolski, but his enquiries have, so far, proved unsuccessful.

"I thought about Adriano, so I tried to contact (Inter president) Massimo Moratti, but I have had no reply so far," added Louis-Dreyfus.

"Podolski? I talked with (Bayern general manager) Uli Hoeness, when I was in Munich. Bayern want €10 millions (£9.1m) but, according to me, either he will stay or he will join Cologne."