If Andriy Shevchenko is looking for encouragement as he contemplates his transformation from Europe’s most potent striker to Carling Cup accessory, he should glance at the career path of the man who previously owned the mantle of the Premiership’s most expensive flop.
We are talking, of course, about Juan Sebastián Verón, who, remarkably, remains a Chelsea-owned player, albeit one who has not pulled on the shirt since May 2004, when fellow players included Mario Melchiot and Jesper Gronkjaer. Technically, Chelsea could recall him from Estudiantes during the transfer window, but that seems highly unlikely even though José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, is short of manpower and despite the fact that, at 31, Verón is enjoying a new lease of life.
Shortly before Christmas, the man with the Che Guevara tattoo lifted the Argentine domestic championship as captain of Estudiantes. He was being paid an almost insulting amount to do so — as little as £10,000 a week, can you believe — but the money meant far less than winning the title with his boyhood club.
Verón’s father, Juan Ramón, is one of Estudiantes’s most celebrated former players, contributing to the famously bloody victory over Manchester United in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup, so there was emotional compensation to make up for the sacrifice of several million pounds in wages that Verón could have claimed by “doing a Winston Bogarde” and rotting in Chelsea’s reserves.
The Argentine domestic league is weak because of the flow of talent to Europe, but Verón was still its outstanding performer and by far its biggest celebrity. He was the fulcrum of Diego Simeone’s side as they won their first championship in 23 years, driving the team on from central midfield with the wonderful range of passing that persuaded Parma, Lazio, Manchester United and Chelsea to invest a combined £75 million. The first two clubs certainly got value for money and Verón did make 25 league appearances in United’s last title-winning campaign.
His latest championship was his second in succession given that Inter Milan, where he had been on loan from Chelsea for two years, were crowned winners of Serie A last year after the Italian match-fixing scandal. Proof of a sort, then, that there could be a rosy future for Shevchenko, although not at Stamford Bridge and not with Mourinho at the helm. That is not an accusation against the Portuguese, who has been loyal to a fault where Shevchenko is concerned. He persevered with the Ukraine forward long after it was clear that he could not harness his goalscoring talents in any formation.
In a 4-4-2 system, Shevchenko has found himself playing the foil to Didier Drogba, tracking back or running wide when he has spent a lifetime as a penalty-box finisher. And there appears to be no space at all for him when Chelsea play 4-3-3. Salomon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips were preferred in the wide positions for the 0-0 draw away to Aston Villa on Tuesday. To be behind both of them truly is a long way for a former European Footballer of the Year to fall.
Yet you suspect that Shevchenko could succeed in the right Barclays Premiership team — all those balls being played across the goalmouth by Arsenal; running off Peter Crouch at Liverpool. Sam Allardyce could surely find use for him at the Reebok Stadium and, while Shevchenko is losing speed at 30, he must surely retain the nose for goal that sniffed out 60 in 89 matches in the past three seasons in Serie A.
Shevchenko has worn an expression of constant bemusement but he has worked hard enough to suggest that, unlike Verón, he is not put off purely by the hurly-burly of the Premiership. United players used to swoon at Verón’s brilliance in training only to watch him tread tentatively through matches. The English game was never going to be Shevchenko’s natural home but, given the right support, you would still back him to score goals.
Yet who is going to pay his wages other than Chelsea, unless, like Verón, he is willing to take a pay cut? He will see out the season at Stamford Bridge and, with a fight on four fronts, he is guaranteed some starts even if they are dictated by Drogba’s absences for rest or suspension.
It is hard to see how Sheva can avoid eclipsing Seba as the Premiership’s most spectacular failure. Perhaps he should have spoken to Sergei Rebrov, his old Dynamo Kiev accomplice, who became an £11 million outcast at Tottenham Hotspur. Now back at Kiev as captain, Rebrov has taken the Verón route of finding comfort at home.
From hero to zero: six men who failed to justify their transfer fees
Massimo Taibi
Not the new Peter Schmeichel, or even the new Jim Leighton. Signed for £4.5 million from Valencia in 1999 and played four games for Manchester United. Let a soft, long-range effort from Matthew Le Tissier through his legs and conceded five at Stamford Bridge on his farewell appearance.
Winston Bogarde
Shortly before Chelsea dismissed Gianluca Vialli, the manager signed a defender who had won the European Cup with Ajax and played for AC Milan and Barcelona. In four years at Stamford Bridge, he made 12 appearances and trousered £8 million in wages.
Steve Marlet
The French striker, signed for £11.5 million, scored 11 times for Fulham in 54 games. Mohamed Al Fayed, the chairman, sued the manager who signed him, Jean Tigana, on the basis that his transfer fee must have been illicitly inflated. Tigana was cleared; Marlet guilty of being useless.
Bosko Balaban
The Croatia forward spent 242 minutes in an Aston Villa shirt from 2001-03. Goals: 0. Villa spent £5.8 million to sign him and £20,000 a week.
Hugo Viana
“I think everyone would agree that my game isn’t suited to English football,” the winger said. Sixteen league starts in three years with Newcastle United for the £8.5 million man, who missed a penalty for Portugal against England in the 2006 World Cup quarter- final.
Sergei Rebrov
Represented Ukraine in the World Cup finals but looked lightweight when signed for £11 million by Tottenham Hotspur in 2000. Did not make grade at West Ham United.
- David Morley, the Macclesfield Town central defender, is relishing his match-up with Andriy Shevchenko, the £30 million Chelsea striker, when their teams meet in an FA Cup third-round tie at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. “I suppose he might be stronger and quicker and he must have something extra to be paid £100,000 a week,” Morley, who has also played for Carlisle United and Doncaster Rovers, said. “But I’m not worried at all. I’m looking forward to it.”
If Macclesfield, the Coca-Cola League Two club, beat Chelsea, they will earn a £1 million bonus from Betbrokers, the sports betting brokerage firm.
