Didier Drogba's agent today claimed Chelsea sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari because of his feud with the striker.

Scolari was fired three weeks ago amid reports that owner Roman Abramovich came to his decision after meeting with Drogba, as well as Petr Cech and Michael Ballack, at the training ground.

It appears Scolari's fall-out with Drogba was the main reason for his downfall after he finally lost patience with the Ivory Coast international following the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United in January.

The 60-year-old, who had started Drogba just eight times before receiving his marching orders, privately blamed the striker for the humiliating loss at Old Trafford and dropped him to the bench.

Drogba's representative, Thierno Seydi, believed that Chelsea decided to support the forward in the row at Scolari's expense because they considered him more valuable to the club.

Seydi added: "The fact that he was told to sit on the bench had nothing to do with sport, it was just a problem between two men that couldn't work together.

"One had to go and Chelsea decided to part ways with Scolari. They literally said that Didier made history at the club, that he could still bring a lot to the team, so they decided to let the coach go and to keep Didier."

Seydi said Chelsea were so keen to keep the 30-year-old, who joined Chelsea for £24million from Marseille in 2004, that they had already turned down £18m bids from Inter Milan and Manchester City.

Drogba, who has scored two goals since returning to the side under new manager Guus Hiddink, is now set to sign a new contract in the summer.

"Since last year, there have been two firm offers: Inter and Manchester City, who offered me a golden deal," Seydi told Senegal newspaper L'Observateur.

Drogba's contract runs out in 2010 but he insists his best form is still to come and is hoping to get a new deal.

He said: "Because of my knee problems and what happened with the manager, I really want to make it clear again that I'm staying here.

"I have worked really hard in training but the good thing is I have had the support of the players and people like Ray Wilkins."