Chelsea star Didier Drogba has been buying dozens of his own shirts - hiking him up the club shop sales league table.

The Ivory Coast hitman has reportedly shelled out thousands of pounds for replica number 11 shirts in a bid to try and convince his team-mates he is just as much a crowd favourite as they are.

The £24 million striker was lagging in shirt sales behind the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard who would often taunt him about it on the training ground.

One Chelsea insider claimed Drogba visits the club shop up to 10 times a week and on one occasion walked out of the store with 40 shirts each costing about £45 a pop - or £1,800 at one fell swoop.

The first-team regular could get all his shirts for free but the £70,000-a-week centre forward is shelling out the cash to force up his shirt sale stats.

A Stamford Bridge source revealed: "Dids is never out of the club shop. He is spending a fortune.

"He is on first name terms with the staff and is easily their best customer.

"The competition to be the most popular is massive and Didier hates losing.

"He has been buying loads of copies of his number 11 shirt and must be up there with the club's top sellers by now.

"Dids has been sending all his replica shirts to his mates back home."

Erm, is it just me, or is buying your own shirt more embarrassing than having crap shirt sales?

Exactly

sad twit lol

I dunno, he seems quite happy now his sales have gone up.

Definitely more money than sense.

At least he is sending them back to his own country. Charity maybe???

o he could just take the hint no one likes him

If it were charity he would be buying Sidwell ones and sending them.

I mean... what kind of person buys their own shirts?

Shameless self-promoters that's who!

Brilliant player and does make me laugh, but he must do the Chelsea fans heads in! He is constantly saying he wants to leave to go to a bigger club blah blah blah. If we had a player at Sunderland saying that i'd say "get rid" no matter how good he is!