When it comes to discussing the greatest strikers of the Premier League era, Chelsea legend Didier Drogba inevitably gets a mention.

Fast, powerful and deadly from close or long range, the Ivorian scored all kinds of goals throughout his time in England and was a defender's nightmare.

He ended his second spell with Chelsea in 2015 on 104 Premier League goals having won four titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and the Champions League once.

And now, three years on from leaving the Blues and aged 40, Drogba has retired.

Drogba played his last professional game for United Soccer League side Phoenix Rising in the USL Championship final on November 8, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Louisville City FC.

Speaking to the BBC, Drogba said it was the right time to hang up his boots and begin coaching the next generation of professional footballers.

He said: "After 20 years, I have decided to put an end to my playing career. It's the best way to end, helping some young talent to develop.

"To give something back to the game was the best way to finish as I have learned so much in the game."

Since announcing his retirement Drogba has received numerous messages of support from fans, former teammates and even former rivals.

Jamie Carragher has now jumped on the bandwagon by revealing the "old rule" he and his old Liverpool teammates used to have about Drogba whenever they played Chelsea.

Apparently the worst thing you could do to Drogba was rile him up because he used to turn into the Hulk and become unplayable, so Liverpool defenders avoided it at all costs.

Carragher wrote for the Telegraph: "In my playing days when Liverpool were up against Chelsea so often, for so many of the big prizes, there was an old rule about how you dealt with Didier Drogba - in my view the striker who changed the way we think about that position.

"The rule was: don't rile Didier. When he was angry he seemed to play even better.

"If his temper was up he was like the Hulk, ploughing through everything in his path, impossible to knock off the ball, a real force of nature.

"Looking back I think Drogba changed perceptions about what a striker could do and the way in which a team could be shaped. Many times he did the job of two players and it allowed his managers at Chelsea to change the team around him."