Chelsea's Ukrainian striker Andriy
Shevchenko has revealed how he would like to become part of the
growing football revolution in America at some stage of his
career.
Shevchenko, who joined the Premiership club for £30million last
summer, has failed to reproduce the kind of form which prompted
Chelsea to pay AC Milan a record fee.
But the 30-year-old, who missed Chelsea's FA Cup final victory over
Manchester United on Saturday because of a groin injury, admits to
having an ambition to play in the US.
Real Madrid's David Beckham is about to cross the Atlantic to join
Los Angeles Galaxy and Shevchenko said: 'I'd like to play there,
actually.
'Soccer is growing in the US and I'd like to be a part of that. I
played there last summer against the MLS All-Stars and I saw myself
that it's definitely improving.'
Shevchenko maintains that playing out of position for Chelsea did
not help his cause during a difficult opening season at Stamford
Bridge but he insists he was happy to make the sacrifice for the
benefit of the team.
'It wasn't a great season but it hasn't been the worst,' Shevchenko
told the website.
'People always expect a lot from me. I wasn't well in the first
four months, partly because of fatigue from the World Cup and
partly because of the injury I was carrying. But then I had a good
stretch in the middle of the season.
'In the end, despite everything, I ended up with 14 goals and 11 or
12 assists, and that's not a bad season.
'I know people wanted 30 goals a season, but the reality is that it
can't happen every season. With all the problems I had, I don't
think I did that badly.
'I didn't play in my position this year. I wasn't the key of the
attack. I was playing further behind, away from goal, which is
different from how I played at Milan and maybe that's why Didier
Drogba scored so many goals this year.
'We made a good partnership with me setting him up some of the
time. At Milan I played in my natural role. Here I had to adapt to
be something else and I did it so I could help the team. The main
priority for me is feeling well next season.'
Meanwhile, captain John Terry has dismissed suggestions that he was
ready to hand in a transfer request as 'ludicrous' and insists he
wants to sort out his Chelsea future as soon as possible.
Terry's position at the club came under increasing speculation in
the build-up to the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley, which
Chelsea won 1-0 thanks to Drogba's 33rd goal of the season five
minutes from the end of extra time.
Terry was understood to have rejected Chelsea's latest offer and,
according to reports, was on the verge of handing in a transfer
request.
But Terry declared: 'That's ludicrous. I would never do that. Now
the season is over for Chelsea, I'd like to think things are going
to get sorted out and I'm hopeful we will be in talks.
'I didn't want to be in talks in the build-up to the FA Cup final
and the build-up to what could have been us possibly retaining the
Premiership.
'I told Chelsea to wait and we would go again in the summer. It was
not right to go into important games with things on your mind and
being unhappy.
'Hopefully it will be resolved as soon as possible
really.'
