history until it was surpassed by Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah in 2021. Montreal Impact On 27 July 2015, Drogba signed a Designated Player contract with Major League Soccer side Montreal Impact, believed to be 18 months in length. On 23 August, he made his debut in a 0–1 home loss against the Philadelphia Union, coming on as a substitute for Dilly Duka in the second half. On 5 September, Drogba scored a hat-trick on his first MLS start, the first player to do so in the league's history. Additionally, it was considered a "perfect hat-trick", with one goal scored with either foot and one with the head. He was September's MLS Player of the Month after scoring 7 goals in his first 5 games in the league. On 25 October, he scored both of the Impact's goals from back heels as the team came from behind to defeat Toronto FC 2–1 at home in the Canadian Classique; the win gave Montreal the home advantage for their knock-out fixture against Toronto in the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. Drogba finished the 2015 MLS regular season with 11 goals in 11 games. On 29 October, Drogba scored Montreal's third goal in a 3–0 home win over Toronto in the knock-out round of the Playoffs, to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals for the first time in the club's history; they were eliminated by Columbus Crew SC. He was named one of the three finalists for the 2015 MLS Newcomer of the Year Award. During the MLS offseason, recently appointed Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink revealed interest in bringing on Drogba in a short-term coaching capacity after Drogba made a visit to Stamford Bridge to watch a Chelsea match with Hiddink and owner Roman Abramovich. Montreal then reiterated their intent for Drogba to finish his contract with the club, but were left uncertain until Drogba publicly confirmed his intent to play with Montreal for the 2016 MLS season on 3 March 2016. After beginning his preseason training in Qatar away from the club, Drogba joined the Impact for the second half of their preseason training in St. Petersburg, Florida. On 3 March, club technical director Adam Braz announced that Drogba would not play matches on artificial turf to begin the season due to possible implications on his knee. In July 2016, Drogba was included in the roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game,