Drogba finally takes selfie with Mbappe 10 years after he first snubbed PSG superstar

The World Cup-winning forward saw an iconic Ivorian reject his request for a photo back in 2009, but he got his snap at the 2019 Ballon d’Or ceremony

Kylian Mbappe has finally got a selfie with Didier Drogba 10 years on from seeing the former Chelsea striker reject his request for a photo following a heated Champions League clash with Barcelona.Back in May 2009, a fiery Ivorian frontman saw red during a European semi-final encounter.

Drogba was left incensed by the performance of referee Tom Henning Ovrebo as Chelsea suffered the cruellest of continental exits.

In the aftermath of that contest, Mbappe – who was a starry-eyed youngster at the time – asked Drogba whether it would be possible to have a picture taken with him.

He received a rather blunt response, but in December 2019 the now World Cup-winning frontman got his wish during the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.

The PSG striker was on stage to collect a prize for finishing sixth in a vote topped by Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi, with Drogba taking the opportunity to patch things up with a 20-year-old he had previously crossed paths with a decade earlier.

The Blues legend said: “Ten years ago after Chelsea versus Barcelona, a child came to me and wanted to take a picture.

“That day I said no because of the disgraceful refereeing decisions. I learned that the child was Kylian Mbappe. I want to pay my debt now.”

Drogba then got a star-studded audience to stand up as he captured a picture of himself, Mbappe and fellow presenter Sandy Heribert.

While Mbappe now has a selfie with one of his childhood heroes, he has previously revealed that he did get a snap with Drogba during a spell training with Chelsea as a young hopeful.

The Stamford Bridge outfit passed up the opportunity to bring him into their academy back then, with the London giants left to rue that decision, but they did help to build ambition in a player who is now considered to be one of the finest on the planet.

Mbappe said back in September 2017: “Chelsea was the first great club, the first big club, that I went to visit.

“So it was a real discovery for me. We played against Charlton, I think, and we won maybe seven or eight nil.

“I also got to meet some of the first-team players – Drogba, [Florent] Malouda – the French-speaking ones and took some pictures with them.

“An idea has been reinforced since I was a kid – not just because I went to Chelsea.

“I always thought: ‘I want to be there, I want to be one of those big players who is trying to give people fun out of the game’.

“And I have given everything to reach that objective.

“Now I am on the other side of the camera, on the other side of the TV. That’s the only difference.”

Download Edujandon.com News App QR-Code

Edujandon.com - 24/7 News Upda

Developer: Edujandon Enterprises

Price: Free