Barcelona and AC Milan are set to go head-to-head for the signature of Andriy Shevchenko this summer. The Ukrainian striker may well have played his last game for Chelsea after the club announced last night that he will undergo a groin operation at the end of the season. Shevchenko missed Tuesday's Champions League semi-final defeat by Liverpool because of the injury and is a doubt for the club's remaining four fixtures, starting with Sunday's trip to Arsenal.Milan president Silvio Berlusconi said today that the Italian club would welcome the striker back to Serie A without hesitation and that Shevchenko wanted the move to happen. Berlusconi added: "He would like to come back, now we will see. Certainly for him the doors are not open, they are wide open." The former Italian Prime Minister also insisted he was relieved that Liverpool and not Chelsea would be facing his team in the Champions League final in Athens on 23 May. "I would not have been happy to face Sheva because of our personal relationship," he said. "I'm sorry his team lost but it is better that we don't have to fight with him to lift the cup."
But should Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich decide to sell Shevchenko, then Barcelona could also offer him a way out of Chelsea after accepting that Samuel Eto'o will be leaving Spain this summer. Club president Joan Laporta had promised Frank Rijkaard that he would try to bring the Ukrainian to the Nou Camp before his move to the Premiership at the start of this season. Barcelona are now thought to be willing to pay £15million for the 30-year-old, but there is also a possibility of a swap deal including Eto'o.
Chelsea chief scout Frank Arnesen has recommended Eto'o to Abramovich, claiming he is the best centre-forward in the world. Abramovich had a £30m offer for the Cameroon international, who has a £75m buy-out clause in his contract, dismissed out of hand by Barcelona last year. Eto'o has had a disappointing season at Barca and his fractured relationship with team-mate Ronaldinho is thought by many within the club to be unsustainable for another season.
