LONDON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine striker Andrily
Shevchenko signed a four-year contract with Chelsea on Wednesday, completing his
transfer from AC Milan for an undisclosed fee.
The 29-year-old signed the contract after agreeing
personal terms and passing a medical.
"I am here for the challenge and the excitement of
the Premier League," said the Ukraine captain.
Because the exact fee has not been disclosed, it is
not known whether it beats the 30 million pounds Manchester United gave Leeds in
2002 for Rio Ferdinand.
It is however a club record fee for Chelsea,
eclipsing the 24.5m they paid for Lyon's Michael Essien in 2005.
Shevchenko, former European Footballer of the Year,
added: "I am going from one big club to another and joining a team of champions.
"There is a right moment to join a football club and
I think I have arrived here at the perfect time.
"The Champions League has to be a realistic target
for next season but it is not just about the Champions League. Chelsea is going
for their third Premiership as well and I like the club's mentality of wanting
to win every game they play.
"I have followed Mr (Jose) Mourinho's career
carefully for the last few years and have been hugely impressed with the way he
manages.
"He puts team ethic before individual expression
which is the way I believe great teams are created.
"Had money been my motivation for coming, I would
probably have stayed in Milan.
"I am pleased that Chelsea managed to conclude
everything before the World Cup - I can go to Germany with a clear mind and
proud to be a Chelsea player."
Chelsea manager Mourinho said: "Today is a day when
the dream became reality. Andriy has always been my first choice for Chelsea
since I arrived.
"Before it was not possible, now it is for real.He
has great qualities, ambition, discipline, tactical awareness and of course he
is a great goalscorer.
"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.
"Milan is a big club, a great club, but for him to
leave Milan for Chelsea is a big statement about where Chelsea is.
"He is a champion and he is joining a team of
champions. I have already spoken to some of our players and they are looking
forward to playing with him. Great players want to play with other great
players."
Chief Executive Peter Kenyon added: "The deal is a
new club transfer record and is a straight cash deal. We are delighted to have
signed one of Europe's greatest goalscorers."
The news that Shevchenko had finalised his switch was
first broken by AC Milan's website, which said in a statement: "AC Milan
communicates it has ceded definitely the sporting rights of Andriy Shevchenko to
Chelsea."
The club swiftly released another statement saying:
"Milan thank Shevchenko, an extraordinary man and striker, for the great amount
of excitement he provided in the seven seasons in which he wore the red and
black shirt.
"His 173 goals, making him the second top scorer in
the club's history, have contributed in a vital manner to the winning of an
Italian league title, an Italian Cup, Super Cup, a Champions League and a
European Supercup."
Shevchenko, born in Dvirkivshchyna, Ukraine, on 29
September 1976, began his career with Dynamo Kiev, making his debut as a
teenager in 1994.
In 1997-98, when already a Ukraine international, he
sprung to the attention of the European game when he scored a hat-trick in a4-0
win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
In 1999 he joined AC Milan and was an instant success
- going on to win the European Footballer of the Year prize in 2004.
He has also led his country to their first World Cup
finals.
Shevchenko becomes Chelsea's third signing of the
summer after midfielder Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich and Feyenoord striker
Salomon Kalou.
Mourinho is also reported to be interested in signing
Real Madrid and Brazil defender Roberto Carlos and goalkeeper Hilario from
Portuguese club Nacional de Madeira. Enditem
