Jose Mourinho and Didier Drogba have warned the Premier League the striker’s Chelsea return is not a sentimental move.

The Blues favourite returned to Stamford Bridge on Friday on a one-year deal after leaving in 2012 for stints at Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray.

He may be 36 years old but Drogba insists he is coming back to contribute to the club’s trophy ambitions – a sentiment echoed by manager Mourinho.

“Didier’s coming because he’s one of the best strikers in Europe,” said Mourinho, himself in his second spell with the club, who originally signed the Ivory Coast international for £24 million in 2004.

“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.”

Drogba, Chelsea’s fourth-highest goalscorer of all time with 157 goals in 341 appearances, cemented his place in club history by scoring first the equaliser and then the winning shoot-out penalty as they beat Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.

And he said of his return: “It was an easy decision – I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with Jose Mourinho again.

“My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to the opportunity to help this team. I’m excited for this next chapter of my career.”

Drogba’s first spell at Stamford Bridge, spanning eight years, produced three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and the prized victory over Bayern.

Arsenal record

His 34 goals in European competition is a Chelsea record, as are his nine strikes in nine cup finals, and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher hailed Drogba’s aptitude for the big occasion.

“Looks like Drogba is back,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Loved our battles, best big game player I can remember.”

Much of the reaction to the move centred around Drogba’s extraordinary record against London rivals Arsenal.

He scored 13 times in 14 appearances against the Gunners, with his goals crucial in securing 15 Premier League points, progress in the 2007 League Cup and the 2009 FA Cup and victory in the 2005 Community Shield.

Broadcaster and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter: “Oh no. He’s back,” adding “King @ThierryHenry – we need you back. Urgent.”

Never go back? Six other players who did...

Didier Drogba will begin his second spell at Chelsea next season after agreeing a one-year deal with Jose Mourinho’s side. Here, Press Association Sport’s Ben Blosse looks at six other big names who ignored the phrase ‘never go back’.

Thierry Henry
(Arsenal 1999-2007/2012)

• Henry could not have scripted his return to Arsenal any better in 2012. The club’s record goalscorer, who had seen a statue of himself unveiled outside the Emirates only weeks earlier, returned on loan for six weeks from New York Red Bulls in January 2012.

The striker was only on the pitch for 10 minutes in his ‘second debut’, the FA Cup replay against Leeds, before he scored.

Although he missed a couple of weeks with injury Henry finished his loan spell in style, scoring a last-minute goal to give Arsenal a 2-1 win over Sunderland.

Cesc Fabregas
(Barcelona 1997-2003/2011-14)

• After spending his youth as a Barcelona player, the long-awaited homecoming of Fabregas to the Catalan club did not materialise in the way many hoped.

The young midfielder was seen as a ready-made replacement for Barcelona’s midfield stars but never found the same level of quality he had produced at Arsenal.

After constantly being shipped around in midfield to accommodate the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, he was sold to Chelsea this summer after former club Arsenal declined their first option to purchase him.

Jermain Defoe
(Tottenham 2004-08/2009-14)

• Defoe’s return to North London looked unlikely after a move to Portsmouth in January 2008, when the club opted to buy Darren Bent for more than £16 million.

Bent failed to settle down and Tottenham soon came back in for Defoe, buying him back for £8 million more than they had sold him for 18 months earlier.

He left for Toronto FC this year after scoring 143 goals for the club.

Ian Rush
(Liverpool 1980-87/1988-1996)

• After scoring 207 goals in his first seven-year spell at Anfield, the Welshman left for Juventus for a British record transfer fee of £3.2 million.

Rush never fully settled in Italy and was sold back to Liverpool in 1988 for £2.7 million.

He added another 139 goals to his Anfield tally before leaving in 1996.

Duncan Ferguson
(Everton 1994-1998/2000-2006)

• Ferguson was initially bought by Everton just after he had finished a three-month prison sentence for headbutting a player.

He soon endeared himself to the Everton faithful in his original four-year stint at the club, but left for Newcastle. After a lacklustre 18 months on Tyneside, he was soon back at Everton, where he stayed until his retirement in 2006.

He’s now an assistant coach at the Merseyside club.

Graeme Le Saux
(Chelsea 1989-1993/1997-2003)

• Le Saux was the most expensive defender in UK football when he re-signed for Chelsea for £5m.

He left the club in 1993 but returned after a successful, championship-winning stint with Blackburn and became a big part of the side that won the 1998 League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup, along with the 2000 FA Cup.