Premier League legend Michael Owen has said that Chelsea legend Didier Drogba changed English football since his move to Stamford Bridge in 2004.

Owen spoke about the former Ivory Coast international in FourFourTwo’s The Art of Goalscoring documentary, saying that Drogba changed the face of attacking football in England.

“When I was growing up it was always two centre forwards. And it was always about how you could work together, how you could link together as a big man and little man. And I think the introduction, in my eyes anyway, of Didier Drogba at Chelsea, when Jose Mourinho played him upfront on his own, got a lot of people thinking, ‘we can get one big man to do a bit of everything’,” Owen said.

Drogba scored over 100 goals in the Premier League in the eight seasons he spent at Chelsea FC. He helped the West London outfit to three Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies, three League Cups and a Champions League triumph in 2012. Drogba’s record under Coach Jose Mourinho is a sterling one. He was an impressive solo striker – one of the initial marquee signings (£25 million) of Mourinho.

He left the club after their Champions League win but returned to help the team to another Premier League title under Mourinho. The player is well travelled; from France to England, he has played in China and America as well. He was billed to move to the A-League but the move to the Australian side fell through last minute. He had the chance to play in South America but rejected the move to Corinthians.

The celebrated player serves as an inspiration to many strikers with Blues current hitman Diego Costa hailing him recently as well.