Milan prepare Sheva future Saturday 13 May, 2006
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Carlo Ancelotti and Adriano Galliani aren’t ready to sell Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea, but say they’ll survive if he goes.
“Milan have never sold a player to make money. Shevchenko has three years left on his contract and, as far as we are concerned, he’ll stay here. However, if he hands in an official transfer request, which he has not yet done, then we’ll deal with the problem when it arises,” explained vice-President Galliani.
Shevchenko shocked fans yesterday when he confirmed he was thinking about leaving the Rossoneri for Chelsea, insisting it was “not a financial issue, but to do with my family.”
Now the club must decide which action to take with a player who has been one of the hottest properties on the transfer market for several years.
“We turned down an offer of £70m a few seasons ago, because before going for Zinedine Zidane, they wanted to sign Shevchenko,” added Galliani in a clear reference to Real Madrid’s record-breaking £48m capture of the Frenchman.
“For the past two years Peter Kenyon and Roman Abramovich have knocked on my door to ask for Sheva and we always turn them away. We don’t need Chelsea’s money and have never sold players purely for cash. Right now it’s only been discussed and I still hope he won’t actually leave, as then we’d have to find an alternative up to his standard.”
The Italian newspapers have scoured Europe for potential replacements and come up with two names: Samuel Eto’o of Barcelona – who is also Chelsea’s second choice if they cannot sign Shevchenko – and Thierry Henry of Arsenal. A third contender is Manchester United’s want away hitman Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
“Shevchenko expressed this desire to go elsewhere and the club is evaluating all the options,” chimed in Coach Ancelotti this afternoon.
“It’s not mandatory to allow players to leave just because they want to. It’s a family issue and therefore we should respect his choices, within limits. There is some sadness here, as we’ve spent some wonderful years together and he has always had a great rapport with his teammates.”
However, Ancelotti is not quaking in his boots at the idea of facing a future at San Siro without their star striker.
“If Shevchenko confirms his desire to leave this great club, then another world class player will arrive in his place. We want him to be happy, but there have to be the right conditions to achieve that first.”
source: channel4.com
Lets hope its not ronaldo...
