Montreal's Didier Drogba back at camp, feeling 'ready to go'

Montreal Impact forward Didier Drogba has returned to the club at long last, though the Ivorian did not don the Canadian club's white-and-blue strip in a preseason friendly against New York City FC.

Drogba, reunited with his former Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard, was on scene for his side's 1-0 loss to New York City, but did not see the playing field despite head coach Mauro Biello expressing that Drogba was fit in training earlier in the day.

"He was a big part of the success of the team last year and I think the players are just happy that he’s back and ready to go," Biello told reporters, as quoted by the Montreal Gazette. "After watching him in training today, I feel that he’s pretty advanced and it’s about integrating and getting back his rhythm with the ball.

"Hopefully, if things progress well here, he could get some minutes in one of the preseason games next week."

Drogba was involved with an ongoing want-away saga as Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink courted the club legend with a potential assistant coach role at Stamford Bridge.

The 37-year-old is in the final year of his contract, and while he joined the league in blistering form last year - scoring 11 goals in as many games for the Impact in the regular season - he also struggled with injuries, especially on artificial surfaces.

It's why Biello is taking precautions with his star striker in the 2016 season, Drogba's last with the club under the terms of his current contract.

"We'll take it from there and see how his knee reacts training on the turf, and if everything seems to be fine there’s the possibility of Didier playing on turf," Biello said.