His contribution to their final emergence as a real European powerhouse has been as great as any player at Stamford Bridge.
He may have cost £24million but stats of 141 goals in 239 starts mark him down as real VFM.
Yes, he has always operated on a short emotional fuse - never more than when he was sent off in the Champions League final in Moscow - but that's the price you pay for someone who is undoubtedly the real deal.
But with his 33rd birthday looming in March, Drogba could well be the fall guy in the £50million Fernando Torres transfer.
This will be heresy for many Blues fans but even a figure as talismanic as Drogba has his shelf life.
And, for once, Chelsea might like to take a leaf out of Arsene Wenger's book, with the Arsenal boss never afraid to offload star players (Henry, Vieira, Overmars, Pires, Campbell) before they are seen to be rattling very much downhill.
Former club Marseille, with whom Drogba has an almost umbilic attachment despite spending only one season in the French Foreign Legion seaport, have already announced their intention of trying to re-sign the Ivory Coast skipper at the end of the season.
The problem for Carlo Ancelotti is that both Torres and Drogba operate best as lone strikers down the middle.
And Chelsea have always been at their most effective in a 4-3-3 formation with Drogba flanked by Nicolas Anelka and either Florent Malouda or Salomon Kalou.
Yes, Drogba and Anelka have worked well together at times but only because the Frenchman has been seen in the subordinate role.
Yes, the idea of 4-4-2 with Torres partnering Drogba looks good on paper, as did Drogba and Andrei Shevchenko but the reality is a bit different.
You can't have two big salami.
Having spent that £50m on Torres and given his age, 26 - the same age as Drogba when he arrived at the Bridge - there's only going to be one long-term winner here. Unless Torres proves as illfitting a fixture and fitting as Shevchenko (which you somehow doubt).
But Torres will have to work on his all-round game. He can't be seen to be poncing around up front while Chelsea are under pressure or unflattering comparisons will be quickly made with Drogba's selfless determination to get himself muddied in the cause.
Drogba will be an immense loss - as much for his character and ability to rouse the troops alongside him as his goals.
His departure will be the start of a sea change at Chelsea. For years, their strength has been based on a powerful spine of Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Drogba himself.
But age, injury and, in Cech's case, confidence has started to erode the strength of this vital vertebra.
Lampard, in particular, has struggled to regain his form after so long out at the age of 32 - amid accusations that his hip problems were originally misdiagnosed.
Now is the time for the quieter members of the team - Essien, Mikel and even Ashley Cole - to assert themselves.
To bring to the club some of the immense spirit and emotion Drogba has so often displayed in a wonderful Chelsea career.
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