Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has told his Chelsea team-mates he is leaving the newly-crowned Champions League winners because he doesn’t fancy spending time on the substitutes bench, France Football said yesterday.

The 34-year-old is quoted by the magazine as saying he burst into tears when he told the rest of the squad during their open top bus parade with the trophy on Sunday.

“We (he and his team-mates) will not be together next season,” Drogba was quoted as saying. “As I have decided to leave, I wanted to tell them to their faces.

“Only that I couldn’t do it. They made me break down. Even if it has been three years that I have said I wanted to leave.

“Especially that I had no great desire for this end. But I don’t envisage sitting on the bench watching others play at a time when the club is looking at putting together a new team.”