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Didier Drogba has confirmed he plans to quit Chelsea following his Champions League final heroics, according to France Football magazine.

The Ivory Coast striker has been quoted saying he informed his team-mates of his decision during the club's open-top bus parade on Monday after leading them to the greatest moment in their history on Saturday night.

"We will no longer be together next season," the 34-year-old said in quotes attributed to France Football magazine.

Drogba, who has reportedly already agreed a deal to join Shanghai Shenhua when his Chelsea contract expires this summer, is said to have admitted he struggled to get the words out and burst into tears.

He went on to say: "As I decided to leave, I wanted to tell them straight in the eye. Except that I could not do it. They made me crack.

"Even though it's been three years since I said I wanted to leave, I find it hard to admit that it's over with this club - especially as I did not feel like this.

"But I could not see myself sitting on the bench to watch others play when the club plans to set up a new team.

"So that's it - I am preparing for my leap into the unknown. It's going to be another adventure."

A relatively late developer who only signed his first professional contract at 21, Drogba has scored 157 goals for Chelsea since joining from Marseille in 2004.

His final goals were the equaliser in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, and the winning spot-kick in the subsequent penalty shoot-out.

A match full to the brim of incident at St James' Park ended in a 3-0 victory for Chelsea over Newcastle in the Premier League, but goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge told only a fraction of the story.

Chelsea, looking to ease the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas after a run of three defeats in four games in all competitions, should have been reduced to ten men after only five minutes when David Luiz somehow escaped with only a booking after fouling Demba Ba when through on goal.

Frank Lampard then saw a penalty saved by Tim Krul, who was magnificent throughout in the Newcastle goal, but Didier Drogba headed Chelsea in front after 38 minutes when exploiting some slack defending.

In a match that saw the woodwork rattled on five separate occasions, three times by Newcastle, Chelsea had to wait until the 89th minute to finally condemn the Magpies to their first home defeat of the season when Salomon Kalou, on as a substitute, slotted the ball home.

There was still time for Daniel Sturridge to score deep into injury time as he finally beat Krul after being denied time and again by the Dutchman, and the upshot of a wonderfully entertaining contest is that Chelsea go two points ahead of Newcastle and into fourth place.

After an emotional tribute was paid to former Wales manager Gary Speed that left his great friend and Newcastle's assistant boss John Carver in floods of tears, those present at St James' Park, or Sports Direct Arena as Mike Ashley has renamed it, were treated to an absorbing contest.

Indeed, a moment of huge controversy ensued after only five minutes. Yohan Cabaye played in Ba with an expert through-ball and the striker was bundled to ground by the error-prone Luiz. It appeared a certain case of denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, but having given the free-kick, referee Mike Dean mystifyingly only produced a yellow card.

Luiz was incredibly fortunate not to be dismissed but proved an ongoing liability just minutes later when attempting to nutmeg Ba 25 yards from his own goal and being muscled off the ball. Luckily for the Brazilian, John Terry produced a block to deny Cabaye. The blunders were particularly poorly-timed, coming on the day Chelsea put centre-back Alex on the transfer list.

Having survived two difficult moments courtesy of Luiz, Chelsea soon reversed the momentum of the tie by exploiting a glaring vulnerability in the Newcastle side: namely the left side of Peter Lovenkrands and Ryan Taylor.

Sturridge tormented Newcastle, and Taylor in particular, every time he took possession and on 13 minutes won a penalty when cutting in from the right and drawing a foul from Cabaye. Lampard, making his 500th career start for Chelsea, saw his poorly-taken effort tipped onto the post by Krul.

The Dutchman was excelling in the Newcastle goal, as he has done all season, and on 16 minutes got a touch to a rasping effort from Sturridge to turn the ball onto the post as Chelsea were denied once again.

Sturridge was in electric form, shooting just wide from 20 yards before collecting a sumptuous through-ball from Juan Mata after 22 minutes and being denied once again by a save by Krul. The forward then produced a series of stopovers to dazzle Fabricio Coloccini before driving an effort wide, and later produced yet another stunning stop from Krul as he collected a pass from Lampard and fired in a low shot.

Ba was Newcastle's most evident threat and on 24 minutes he produced an unconventional backheeled flick from a Cabaye cross to force Petr Cech into a fine reaction stop. When Ba did beat Cech with a header from another delivery from Cabaye, this time the post denied the Newcastle striker before Terry almost hammered the ball off Luiz and into his own net.

In a breathless, frantic encounter, Newcastle were given pause for thought just before the half-hour mark when Coloccini was forced off due to a thigh problem. Newcastle have used the same back five for all 13 of their league games this season and the introduction of James Perch proved critical as he was culpable for Chelsea's opening goal.

Newcastle were angered that Chelsea were awarded a throw high up the pitch and after Ashley Cole chucked the ball to Mata, who spun and flicked a nice cross into the box, Drogba lost Perch to direct a header into the top corner and out of the reach even of Krul.

Though Newcastle started the second half brightly, they almost conceded a second after 53 minutes when Drogba again proved a menace. This time the Ivorian peeled off Simpson at the far post to chest down a cross from Branislav Ivanovic but thumped his subsequent volley wide of the post when he should have scored.

Still the chances flowed in a fantastic encounter. And on 53 minutes both sides could have scored in a 15-second spell that encapsulated the match as a whole.

First Drogba got a clearing header all wrong from a Cabaye corner and thumped the ball against his own bar. Then Mata sprung a quick-counter attack with a ball out to Sturridge, who hared forwards before playing in Ramires. The Brazilian found himself clear on goal but was denied by a fine save from Krul as the Dutchman got just enough to the low shot to turn it behind.

Though Sturridge was no longer the force of nature he was in the first half, he still picked a glorious pass through the legs of Perch on 72 minutes to release Mata, who stabbed his shot wide of the post from ten yards out. Newcastle responded by going up the other end and seeing substitute Sammy Ameobi have a shot cleared off the line by Terry after brother Shola had put Cech under pressure in the air.

The two Ameobis were in the hunt again on 81 minutes. Shola pulled down a ball over the top and with Luiz standing off, the striker unleashed a fearsome effort that struck the bar from 20 yards. Sammy followed up with a low effort that Cech saved.

Krul made yet another fantastic save to deny Sturridge but on 89 minutes he was beaten for a second time. Torres raced through on goal, only to be caught by Perch, and after sliding a pass to substitute Kalou saw his team-mate slot the ball home.

Having made three substitutions, Newcastle were reduced to ten men when Taylor joined centre-back partner Coloccini in the treatment room in injury time. The home side's numerical inferiority was exploited in injury time when Sturridge converted his eight chance of the match, checking inside Sammy Ameobi before placing his effort into the far corner.

Fulham passed up a glorious opportunity to beat Chelsea in the Premier League as a missed penalty in stoppage time resulted in a goalless draw at Craven Cottage.

When the otherwise impeccable debutant David Luiz brought down Clint Dempsey in the third minute of time added on, it appeared Fulham would snatch an unlikely victory against their rivals from down the road.

But the American's spot kick was saved by Petr Cech and both sides had to settle for a point in a match that Chelsea bossed in terms of possession but, with Fernando Torres again toiling up front, they struggled to find a way through a resolute Fulham back line.

The result sees Chelsea stay in fifth, now two points behind Tottenham, who occupy the fourth Champions League spot. Fulham remain 12th.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti opted to drop Didier Drogba to the bench to accommodate £50 million man Torres, who was supported from wide areas by Nicolas Anelka and the recalled Florent Malouda.

The long-term ramifications of that decision are not as yet known, but the Ivorian is not one to settle for a bit part role and a summer transfer saga could now be on the horizon.

On the day, Ancelotti's choice backfired and Torres, clearly bereft of confidence, looked a long distance away from justifying that hefty price tag.

Playing up front on his own until he was withdrawn with just under 20 minutes remaining, he was well marshalled by the Fulham duo of Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland and often cut an isolated figure.

Just twice in the first half did he have a sniff of goal, both late on; at the first attempt indecision let him down and for the second his touch deserted him at the crucial moment.

Otherwise, Chelsea had little to write home about during an opening period that failed to produce much noteworthy action at either end.

Just a Damien Duff shot that Petr Cech found too hot to handle on 24 minutes and a mis-hit Branislav Ivanovic cross that tested Mark Schwarzer at the other end were worthy of pricking the neutral's interest.

Chelsea started the second half in much more attacking mood - although Torres was unable to benefit from the improved service. The Spain international fired off target before heading over the bar soon after the restart.

With Fulham happy to sit in their own half after the break, Chelsea enjoyed far more possession but they were unable to convert that into anything more meaningful.

Malouda fired wide while Michael Essien should perhaps have done better with a header that glanced off his forehead and wide of the far post as chances came, but were not taken.

The introduction of Drogba in place of Torres on 71 minutes should have given Chelsea more of a cutting edge, but even the Ivorian could not find a way through. A run to the by-line and a dangerous cross that failed to find a team-mate was the best he could muster.

As time ran out, Fulham became ever more dangerous on the break, with Dempsey in particular finally beginning to cause a few problems. The American had already forced Cech to beat away a fierce drive with seven minutes left before he was handed a golden opportunity to extend Fulham's impressive winning streak at home.

But his penalty was poor, Cech made a crucial save and Fulham's fourth straight home win in the Premier League failed to materialise.

Fernando Torres had a Chelsea debut to forget as his new club were beaten 1-0 by former employers Liverpool in the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

After a week of expectation surrounding the Spain striker's British record move to west London, it was Raul Meireles who was the hero thanks to his 69th-minute strike which sealed fourth-straight win for Kenny Dalglish's side and a league double for the Reds over their rivals from the capital.

The fact that Liverpool managed the victory without either of their own big-money signings in action will make victory all the sweeter. Andy Carroll is still missing through injury, while Luis Suarez was an unused substitute. Chelsea's other major January addition, David Luiz, was introduced after his new team were already behind.

The win moves Liverpool up to sixth in the table, while Chelsea remain fourth and 10 points behind leaders Manchester United following their defeat at Wolves on Saturday.

With all the attention focused on Torres's debut against his former club, and following an extraordinary set of results from Saturday's fixtures, it was perhaps no surprise that much of this clash was something of an anti-climax.

The recent history between these two clubs has served up its fair share of thrilling encounters, but equally there have been several damp squibs, and this match largely fell into the latter category.

However, Liverpool fans will not care about that after Torres had his inauspicious first appearance ended when he was substituted on 66 minutes, having had just 29 touches of the ball.

Even when freed from the restraints of trying to accommodate their new acquisition, Chelsea's attack continued to lack potency and invention as they struggled to find ways through Liverpool's five-man defence.

It looked as though Torres's Chelsea career was set to get off to a dream start when, in the second minute, Maxi Rodriguez played the ball right to the feet of his former team-mate. Torres headed for goal but, with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel in front of him, he could bend his shot off target.

The returning Carragher, making his first appearance since November, was the bookies' favourite to foul Torres first, but it was Daniel Agger who took that dubious honour when he barged the Spaniard over midway through the half. The resulting free-kick led to a corner from which Branislav Ivanovic glanced wide.

Soon afterwards Didier Drogba played Torres through and the £50 million man got in behind Skrtel to shoot on the turn, but his strike was blocked by the diving Carragher.

Maxi's day went from bad to worse when Steven Gerrard's dangerous low ball across the six-yard box was turned on to the bar by the Argentine midfielder from point-blank range with the goal at his mercy.

The second half again failed to ignite, with clear chances few and far between. Glen Johnson fired a shot from range wide before Drogba had an effort inside the box blocked by Martin Kelly and Anelka fired wide from distance.

Torres's poor afternoon was ended on 66 minutes when he was replaced by Salomon Kalou, and he had barely got settled on his new team's bench when Liverpool went in front.

Petr Cech and Ivanovic had been at each other's throats in the first half when they got in each other's way trying to clear the ball, and their poor communication cost them a goal and ultimately the match. Both players left it to the other to deal with Gerrard's cross and the ball run between them and through to Meireles who finished to score his fourth goal in his last five games. It was the first league goal scored by a Liverpool player at Stamford Bridge since Bruno Cheyrou's strike in 2004.

The visiting fans, who had brought banners bearing slogans such as "He Who Betrays Will Always Walk Alone" and "Torres: a pawn on our chess board but the King remains", goaded their former idol with chants of "Torres, what's the score?", and Chelsea were unable to stem the abuse aimed at the bench by finding an equaliser.

The closest they came was when Anelka played through substitute Florent Malouda, whose shot at the near post was parried by Reina, and their desperate claims for a late penalty when Ivanovic was barged over by Johnson were ignored by the referee.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti vented his frustration at the fourth official, but he has now been left in no doubt about the task on his hands in fitting his new marquee signing into his team.