And Another Thing...| Andriy Shevchenko's Return to AC Milan is Great News

I’ll start with an admission, one that will govern this article—I’ve always been a massive Andriy Shevchenko fan.

Ever since his Dynamo Kiev days, and the fantastic partnership he had with Sergei Rebrov, I have followed the Ukrainian’s progress with devotion. In the beginning, I searched for any and every piece of information I could find on the blonde haired youngster.

It wasn’t that hard, considering the headlines the player regularly made. Thanks mainly due to his goals, Kiev made a Champions League semifinal in 1999, having gone one stage further than the previous year. All told, he scored 60 goals in 117 appearances for the then-European heavyweight.

It was after his move to Milan, however, that Shevchenko really cemented his hero status for me. His $25 million move seemed expensive to some, but I firmly believed he would be a great success in Serie A—after all, I already knew he was no ordinary striker.

208 games and 127 goals later, millions of people around the world shared my affection. He had undoubtedly proven himself to be one of the world’s greatest strikers.

The second top scorer in the history of the Rossoneri, behind Gunnar Nordahl, he was often impossible to defend against. With his feet, with his head, close range, outside the box—it didn’t matter to Shevchenko, he would score no the circumstances.

But it wasn’t just his goals that endeared him to the fans. His ability to link-up and provide for his teammates was another pivotal reason for his popularity at the San Siro.

He was an integral part of a successful side, one that won the Serie A title in 2004, and also the Champions League in 2003 during his time at the club. Individually, he also won the European Player of the Year award, again in 2004.

Everything changed, however, when Roman Abramovich finally got his way and brought the then 29-year-old to Stamford Bridge, in a deal worth £30 million. For some reason seeing my footballing hero in the familiar blue of Chelsea, on Match of the Day every weekend, crushed much of my affection for the forward.

Perhaps it is true what they say: familiarity breeds contempt.

Maybe, or perhaps it was because the Chelsea Shevchenko regularly played like what Curtis Davies would call “a pub player.” Trust me, it’s hard to idolise somebody who makes even Claudio Pizarro look good.

Of course, there were momentary flashes of brilliance, like the goal he scored against Tottenham in an FA Cup replay. But such moments were all too fleeting.

It was a disappointment for everyone that one of the greatest strikers in the history of Serie A was now one of the biggest laughing stocks in the Premiership.

Such a situation looked destined to continue, at least until the much maligned man retired. But, like he had for them so many times before, it was the Ukrainian’s former club that came to his rescue. Tonight’s news that the 31-year-old will return to Milan, in an undisclosed deal, will be met with delight in North Italy, and apathy in South England.

For neutral football fans, however, it should also be great news. Hopefully, if Shevchenko hasn’t lost it completely (over the last year it has been hard to tell), we should have the chance to see a great player perform at the top level once again. As the old saying goes: form is temporary, class is permanent.

But it is confidence that Shevchenko really needs. Fortunately, it looks like just moving back to Italy has already lifted his spirits. As he told acmilan.com:

"I have hoped for a return for a while and on Friday I began to believe that this deal could end well,” he said. “For me it is as if I've won the Champions League.”
 
“There were some complications, but now that everything is resolved I am really happy."
 
Delighted to be back at a club that adores him, few can possibly believe Shevchenko won’t bang in the goals once more. He might not challenge for Nordahl’s all-time club scoring record (it stands at 207, after all) but he surely will repay the faith that Carlo Ancelotti and Adriano Galliani have shown in him.

Milan’s supporters will be overjoyed at having their old No. 7 back—especially as he will now be partnered with the man who inherited his shirt, the Brazilian Alexandre Pato.

It truly is a mouth-watering prospect.

Pato, in the absence of Sheva, had actually become my new hero—hey, I had to worship someone! Fortunately, my faith in the youngster was not misplaced. Having watched the 18-year-old since his first appearance in red and black, it is clear to me he will go on to be one of the greatest strikers in the game, if not the greatest.

For now, though, my affections will have to return to the Ukrainian. All I need to do is forget the last two years of his career. That shouldn’t be too hard, considering how little of what he did in that period was memorable.

I’ll just pretend he was on a holiday in London. For two years.

I’ll just pretend my Shevchenko Milan shirt got temporarily lost in the wash. For two years.

All they need to do is bring Football Italia back to Channel 4 (I mean, where has it been the last, oh, two years?), and it will be like the “London Experiment” (as it shall now be referred to) never happened.

Andriy Shevchenko back at Milan. Good news for Milan, good news for Chelsea, good news for neutral fans. Its even pretty good news for the man himself.

More importantly, its great news for me.

To read the last And Another Thing, about Steve McClaren's managerial reputation,click here.