And there you have it.
We’ve been talking about it for two years. Mourinho wants Shevchenko, Mourinho wants Shevchenko.
Well now the bloody bastard has got him.
I don’t know if anyone has thought about it yet, but it says a helluva lot about the English Premier League that we’ve got two of the world’s best players moving to the EPL this summer.
Want the ‘transfer’ details? Here we go:
Shevchenko is on a four-year contract, with the transfer fee believed to be around 30 mil pounds, but as Chelsea have conducted their business this summer, the fee remains undisclosed. It is, however, a record signing for Chelsea (they’ve broken the bank 3 consecutive summers now – Drogba 24 mil, Essien 24.5 mil and now Shev).
You can read about how Mourinho praises Shevchenko and how Shevchenko talks about his ‘new big club’ with so much affection over at BBC Sport. My favorite quote was this one:
“I did not need to meet with him to convince him about Chelsea, in the same way we did not need to talk a lot about why I wanted him. Everybody knows him as a player, tactically he can play in the Chelsea system no doubt.”
I’m sure there was very little convincing going on. The contract negotiations were completed quietly, professionally and with a minimum of fuss, as they should be. Kudos to Kenyon for finally doing what he has been paid to do.
“My wife speaks English, I speak Ukrainian but we have to talk in Italian. I have a kid and I want him to learn English so I wanted to move to Chelsea and raise my kid in an environment where he can learn English” – Shevchenko goes on and on as he says this move is not about the money. Ummmm Shev? I believe you on the family bit but MAN it is so easy to see right through you it’s not even funny.
Kenyon confirmed the record transfer deal, and strikingly, there was no mention of Crespo going the other way. Mourinho has already stated that he has no intentions of letting Gallas go, and one of today’s news items suggested that Lyon have had to drop their pursuit of Drogba because Drogba told them “that Mourinho wanted to build the team around him and Andriy Shevchenko”. I doubt that Mourinho said team, but we’ll give DD the benefit of the doubt here.
Manchester United fans, be very afraid. AC Milan are, by all accounts, pissed off at this transfer. They want to get back on top of the European game, and for that count on them to bring in the best possible striker. And that’s where Nistelrooy will come in. Milan know about the bustup (who doesn’t?), and they know that Nistelrooy will easily go there if they come calling. They have the cash to buy him too.
If Ferguson sells Nistelrooy, we’re done. But that’s for another day. This is Chelsea’s moment, and I don’t want to ruin it.
Excellent job guys – it makes it that much harder for us to beat you, but bringing Ballack and Shevchenko to the Premiership was impossible 3 years ago. It really is a dream come true. Except with the two of them playing in blue, I’m not sure I’m in the right dream (or wearing the right colors).
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