We are all waiting for the Andriy Shevchenko we admired so much at AC Milan, but we are going to be waiting forever. The sad truth is that he is not going to show up.

The player at Chelsea is Shevchenko the shadow. There will be a few highlights, some decent moments, but he is not the player he was and it is sad to see one of the greats playing merely with hope and looking nothing more than decent, as he did last night.

Does his goal last night change anything? We will see, but I doubt it. Finishing? For the past year, he could not finish his dinner. His goal against Rosenborg is not even an appetiser. One header is not enough to transform a player who looks physically gone and mentally scarred.

The goal will buy him some time with the Chelsea fans, who were losing patience, but Shevchenko still has so much to prove. Yes, he tries, but you do not spend £30 million on workrate. He has never been a battering ram, but I have been shocked by how lightweight he looks.

I was prepared to make allowances for Shevchenko’s lack of sharpness last season because I thought he was suffering from a post-World Cup hangover, looked injured and needed time to adjust to the English game, but those excuses do not wash any more.

Whenever he has half a yard on a defender, they catch him. At 31, is his body faltering? He is obviously not getting any quicker, but I have not seen such a downward spiral in players of his age unless they are injured. Besides, if your legs go but your mind stays strong, you can cope. I know from experience that the reverse is not true.

Look at Shevchenko and the worry is etched on his face. If yesterday’s goal is not followed by a few more in the coming months, do Chelsea cut their losses in January? Easier said than done. Back to Italy would be the logical move, but it would surely be another Hernàn Crespo-type deal: a loan, with Chelsea paying a chunk of his wages. That would be a financial disaster, but the sadness of seeing such a great player decline and fall would cut far deeper.

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• Graham Spiers