Drogba's Chelsea vow

Didier Drogba is straining at the leash after vowing to repay his transfer fee in goals.

Didier Drogba is straining at the leash after vowing to repay his substantial transfer fee in goals.

The former Marseille marksman has been pleasantly surprised by the great atmosphere within the West London club and his Premiership debut will come on Sunday against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

"I quickly realised something exceptional was happening in my life," he told L'Equipe.

"I will never forget Marseille but now I have turned the page.

"I am here to score the same goals I scored with l'OM. Obviously, here, the passion is enormous. People are crazy about their club and there is a football culture that doesn't exist probably anywhere else.

"I made the final decision to leave l'OM. In life, there are moments when you have to make the best choice.

"I think I made the right choice. I know where my place is. I still have a lot of work to do and to prove myself. I start from scratch again here.

"People don't know me. My only concern is to give my best for Chelsea, like I did at Guingamp and l'OM. At ‚é¼6 million or ‚é¼37 million, I am the same player."

The Ivory Coast international is pleased with coach Jose Mourinho's trust in his qualities.

"I have been pleasantly surprised," he added. "There is a lot of solidarity between the players.

"At Chelsea, there is not only money, there is a soul in this team.

"I am reassured with that. The human relationship is essential to me.

"Coach Jose Mourinho is just waiting for one thing from me - to be decisive. That means I score goals or assist to score. He completely trusts me and he is waiting for me to help him too."

Drogba is only concerned that he is lacking in full fitness as the Stamford Bridge opener on Sunday rapidly approaches.

"On a physical level, I am not at my best. With the World Cup elimination matches with Ivory Coast, I played a lot of matches this summer.

"I only had 12 days of holidays. I didn't have time to recover from the last two seasons.

"So during the training sessions, I am suffering."