Dynamo Kyiv's Shevchenko expected to be signed by Milan (07/04/99)

Dynamo Kyiv's Shevchenko expected to be signed by Milan

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Andrii Shevchenko, the young and gifted forward for the Dynamo Kyiv Ukrainian soccer club, will soon sport the colors of Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan.

Unless the Italian soccer club, or the city, disappears from the face of the map - or Dynamo Kyiv's owner Hryhorii Surkis can convince his star player that it has - Mr. Shevchenko will seal a deal with the AC Milan at the beginning of July that will pay him an expected $25 million.

At a June 25 press conference at the Mirage Casino and Bowling Club in Kyiv, Mr. Shevchenko acknowledged that he had spent the prior week in Milan at the invitation of the Italian club's management and that serious discussions had taken place about his future services.

The shy and soft-spoken Mr. Shevchenko, who came dressed for his press conference in a simple polo shirt, khaki trousers and white deck shoes, would not state whether an agreement had been reached with Milan, but suggested that he would be returning to the city on July 1-2 for the official signing.

Asked when the world should expect the announcement of his signing, the Kyiv player would only say, "At the time when the contract is signed."

Mr. Surkis, who was present at the press conference during which his star performer was presented the Golden Goal award by Ukrainian Television News for the most spectacular goal in the month of May, admitted that an agreement with AC Milan is imminent, but said he would not cease trying to convince Mr. Shevchenko to stay in Kyiv for at least another year.

"We want to make sure that Shevchenko doesn't end up like Mikhailychenko and Blokhin," explained the Dynamo owner.

Oleh Blokhin and Oleksii Mykhailychenko were two former Dynamo stars whose dazzle quickly faded when they made the switch to the European leagues. Mr. Surkis attributed the failure of the older Dynamo stars to make the transition smoothly to a lack of psychological and cultural preparedness.

Mr. Shevchenko, unlike Messrs. Blokhin and Mikhailychenko, who played for a Soviet system that sheltered its athletes and limited their exposure to Western lifestyles and perks, has played against and with Europeans for years.

Mr. Shevchenko said a contract with AC Milan would be the fulfillment of a long-sought goal. The Kyiv star first became enamored of the Italian soccer club, which regularly leads the Italian premier league, when he participated in a tournament in that city as a 15-year-old.

"Quite honestly, it has been a dream of mine to play for this club for some time," said Mr. Shevchenko. "Eight years ago, when I still was a member of the Dynamo junior club, I played in San Siero [stadium]. I told myself that I would play in this stadium again. This club became a family for me."

The 22-year-old athlete, whose talent for putting the black-and-white ball past the goal posts is considered on par with Ronaldo of Brazil, has been rumored to be headed for the Milan club for several years. In 1997 such rumors, reported as fact in the Kyiv newspaper Kievskie Viedomosti, led to the filing of a lawsuit by Kyiv Dynamo, which eventually cost the newspaper more than 1 million hrv and forced it to shut down for nearly a year.

Today there is little doubt that Mr. Shevchenko will sign. The only question appears to be whether he will be able to learn Italian sufficiently to feel comfortable in the country. Although the Milan newspaper Carriera della Sport reported that Mr. Shevchenko is intensively studying Italian, the soon-to-be Milanese said he had not yet found the time for language lessons.

Since joining the senior squad of Dynamo Kyiv in 1995, Mr. Shevchenko has scored more than 50 goals in over 100 games. He is the star of a team that has won the Ukrainian National League championship 18 times, most recently in 1998-1999.

The current Dynamo Kyiv squad has appeared in the European Champions League tournament the last two years, reaching the quarterfinals in 1998 and the semifinals this year.

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