It’s all go at Chelsea eh – well as far as Andriy Shevchenko’s concerned it is anyway.
One minute his old boss is reassuring him he still has a future at the club, the next he’s left out of our Champions League squad. Actions speak louder than words eh Sheva? And so, with Ancelotti’s actions speaking several decibels above his previous reassurances, Shevchenko will be heading out of Stamford Bridge.
Recent reports seem to suggest Shevchenko got the right raving hump when his position at the club was spelt out to him – although quite how he hadn’t already sussed he was our fourth choice striker, I’m not sure. Anyway, it’s suggested he wasn’t happy to wait until there’s enough absentees during the African Cup of Nations to warrant a place in the side and made this clear to Ancelotti – who subsequently left him out of the Champions League squad as well.
After Sheva threw his toys out again, the Chelsea boss stated “I spoke to Shevchenko. He would like to play with continuity here but it is difficult for me to give him the possibility to play a lot of matches and he will take the right decision for him. We have told him he can go. Sheva didn’t have the possibility to play consistently so he has taken the decision to go.”
Turns out it’s Shevchenko’s 33rd birthday today and with him having talks with Dymano Kiev, it looks as if a move there could be just the present he wants. Mind you, with him currently on £120,000 a week, he won’t find Chelsea dishing out any birthday treats, because they’ve made it clear they won’t be making up any shortfall in his wages (hardly surprising seeing as they won’t be recouping a penny of the £30million they paid for him) so he’ll be taking a sizeable cut in pay whilst our wage bill has a nice chunk taken out of it.
So, having said goodbye to him last summer – temporarily – it seems we’ll soon be saying goodbye to Andriy Shevchenko on a permanent basis.