Barcelona and AC Milan are set to go head-to-head for the
signature of Andriy Shevchenko this summer. The Ukrainian striker
may well have played his last game for Chelsea after the club
announced last night that he will undergo a groin operation at the
end of the season. Shevchenko missed Tuesday's Champions League
semi-final defeat by Liverpool because of the injury and is a doubt
for the club's remaining four fixtures, starting with Sunday's trip
to Arsenal.
Milan president Silvio Berlusconi said today that the Italian club
would welcome the striker back to Serie A without hesitation and
that Shevchenko wanted the move to happen. Berlusconi added: "He
would like to come back, now we will see. Certainly for him the
doors are not open, they are wide open." The former Italian Prime
Minister also insisted he was relieved that Liverpool and not
Chelsea would be facing his team in the Champions League final in
Athens on 23 May. "I would not have been happy to face Sheva
because of our personal relationship," he said. "I'm sorry his team
lost but it is better that we don't have to fight with him to lift
the cup."
But should Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich decide to sell
Shevchenko, then Barcelona could also offer him a way out of
Chelsea after accepting that Samuel Eto'o will be leaving Spain
this summer. Club president Joan Laporta had promised Frank
Rijkaard that he would try to bring the Ukrainian to the Nou Camp
before his move to the Premiership at the start of this season.
Barcelona are now thought to be willing to pay £15million for the
30-year-old, but there is also a possibility of a swap deal
including Eto'o.
Chelsea chief scout Frank Arnesen has recommended Eto'o to
Abramovich, claiming he is the best centre-forward in the world.
Abramovich had a £30m offer for the Cameroon international, who has
a £75m buy-out clause in his contract, dismissed out of hand by
Barcelona last year. Eto'o has had a disappointing season at Barca
and his fractured relationship with team-mate Ronaldinho is thought
by many within the club to be unsustainable for another
season.
