ESPN FC reports that Ivory Coast striker and former Chelsea star Didier Drogba has been acquired by the Montreal Impact from the Chicago Fire, and is set to sign a contract with the Canadian club.

According to the report, the current deal offered to the 37-year-old Drogba is an 18-month deal, which would pay him over $3million per year. The Ivorian has yet to sign the contract with Montreal.

As noted by ESPN FC, the prospect of playing in the French-speaking city became a more attractive lure for the former Chelsea forward, whose rights were initially obtained by Chicago, which filed a discovery claim on the striker and pursued him for over a month. The Fire initially thought they would be able to convince Drogba into signing with them, until Montreal entered the picture.

After Drogba had made his intentions of signing with Montreal known, the Fire traded his rights in exchange for what is reportedly called a "substantial amount of targeted and regular allocation money" in excess of $100,000, according to a source close to the situation.

Drogba is the all-time top scorer for the Ivory Coast national team. He's the fourth-highest all-time goal scorer at Chelsea, and holds the distinction of scoring the most goals of any other foreign player. He was voted by Chelsea fans back in 2012 as the club's greatest player ever.

ESPN FC points out that this is the second time in as many seasons that the Fire has missed out on a high-profile name. Last year, Chicago went through a lengthy process in an attempt to sign US international midfielder Jermaine Jones. Jones eventually ended up with the New England revolution with the help of a league-mandated blind draw.

The MLS transfer window ends on Aug. 6. Fire manager Frank Yallop has previously stated that he has other targets in mind.