Drogba joins 2nd-tier Phoenix Rising

Like a venerable footballer emerging from the ashes of near-retirement, Didier Drogba has signed with USL side Phoenix Rising.

The club announced the move with a statement on its website Wednesday, adding that the Ivorian goal-machine will join the club as a player before taking an executive position with the outfit hopeful for MLS football. Per USL policy, the financial terms of the contract will not be disclosed.

"As part of the deal, Drogba, 39, will help develop the team as a player before advancing to an executive role with the Phoenix MLS expansion franchise," the statement read.

Without a club since leaving the Montreal Impact in October 2016, the former Chelsea legend enlisted with the fourth-year USL side looking to play a part in the MLS move to Phoenix.

"I have taken my time in deciding what I wanted to do next and am really excited about the opportunity at Phoenix Rising FC," Drogba conceded Wednesday.

"After seeing first hand the potential for expansion of the sport in North America and getting to know the ownership group in Phoenix, I am convinced that I can help them develop their organization on and off the pitch. I look forward to their continued success in the USL, and no city is better positioned than Phoenix for expansion into the MLS."

Phoenix owner Berke Bakay, a fervent Galatasaray supporter who watched Drogba play for the Istanbul giant in 2013, is hoping the MLS will call upon the U.S.A's 12th-largest market when time comes to expand the league.

"I don't know how you can objectively look at what MLS is trying to accomplish - local and passionate ownership, our stadium solution and the right market - and not put us on the top of the list," Bakay told Sports Illustrated in February.