Shevchenko to return to AC Milan

MILAN, ITALY (TICKER) —Andriy Shevchenko’s disappointing stint with Chelsea officially has come to an end.

Chelsea announced Saturday that it has finalized a deal to send Shevchenko back to AC Milan, where the Ukrainian striker previously had emerged as one of the world’s top goal-scorers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Chelsea confirmed on its official web site that Shevchenko will return to the Serie A powerhouse, pending a physical.

“Chelsea FC have agreed terms for Andriy Shevchenko to return to AC Milan,” the club said in a statement. “Details of the agreement will remain confidential.”

After a record-setting seven-year run with AC Milan, Shevchenko joined Chelsea for a record $55.6 million transfer fee in May 2006.

But Shevchenko battled injuries and inconsistency in his two seasons in London, and Chelsea’s coaching staff ultimately soured on the former European Player of the Year. He did not play in Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League season opener last weekend against Portsmouth.

Now Shevchenko, 31, is headed back to AC Milan, which already brought in Brazilian superstar Ronaldhino in an offseason transfer from Barcelona.

“Andriy made a mistake in leaving, and I believe that in the past two years he has realized that this is his home,” AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani told the club’s television station. “Now he has made his financial sacrifices, but at this point the only thing that matters is that he returns to us.”

Shevchenko helped AC Milan win the 2003 Champions League title and the 2003-04 Serie A championship. He scored the winning penalty shootout goal in the 2003 Champions League final against Juventus and made history in the following year’s tournament, becoming just the fifth player to score four goals in a single match.

The 2004 European Player of the Year, Shevchenko scored a whopping 127 goals in 208 regular-season Serie A games from 1999-2006 with AC Milan. He became the club’s second all-time leading goal-scorer in February 2006.

“We succeeded in bringing home the player who in the last 50 years has scored the most goals in our shirt,” Galliani said. “President (Silvio) Berlusconi and I am happy, as is our coach and I believe also our players.”

Shevchenko will be counted on to improve an AC Milan squad that finished fifth in the Serie A last season and suffered a first-round Champions League loss to Arsenal.