Andriy Shevchenko Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko signed a four-year contract with Chelsea in May 2006 after the Blues agreed to pay a club record fee to secure his services.
The Premiership champions did not disclose the exact value of the deal, but it is thought to exceed the £30million British record fee that Manchester United spent to sign Rio Ferdinand from Leeds in 2002.
Shevchenko told his new club's official website: "I am here for the challenge and the excitement of playing in the Premier League. 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. 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. 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."
Shevchenko's life began in tragedy as, at the age of just nine, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster forced he and his family to move from their home town to the coast to escape the aftermath. However, this proved to be a blessing in disguise as he was spotted by Dynamo Kiev and played in their productive youth team until the 1993-94 season when he made the step up to the senior squad.
Some successful displays for Dynamo earned him a call-up the Ukraine squad and he scored his first goal at international level in 1996, during a 2-0 friendly win over Turkey.
Six goals in twenty league appearances for Kiev followed in the 1996/97 season, helping the club win the league and qualify for the 97/98 Champions' League where the undisputed highlight was a hat-trick in a 4-0 drubbing of Spanish giants Barcelona.
More success followed meaning that by the time he moved to AC Milan in 1999, he had won the Ukranian league in each of his five seasons for Dynamo.
It was, however, with Milan where he truly shined. After making his debut in a 2-2 with Leece in August '99, he went on to become Serie A's leading scorer with 24 goals in 32 league matches. 51 further goals followed in the next two seasons, but while Shevchenko personally was enjoying his football, his team had failed to pick up any silverware and to make matters worse Ukraine lost a play-off against Germany in their bid to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals.
Finally, Shevchenko experienced the sweet smell of success in 2002-03 as Milan won the Italian Cup and the Champions' League, even scoring the winning penalty against Juventus in a tense penalty shoot out at Old Trafford.
The Serie A title and the UEFA Super Cup came in the 03-04 season and Shevchenko also won the European Player of the Year, before going on to be named in Pele's 125 Greatest Living Players List and be given the Hero of the Ukraine award by former Ukranian President Leonid Kuchma.
All in all, Shevchenko scored 173 goals in 296 games for Milan and became the record scorer in Champions League history, having found the target 52 times in 90 appearances in Europe's top club competition.
He looked a shadow of his former self during his first season of Premier League football though as he struggled to impose himself on opposition defences. He did play 41 games and score 14 goals, but those strikes came mainly against lesser teams and he looked lost against the higher-profile clubs.
Rumours were abound in the second half of the season of a rift with Jose Mourinho who was reportedly asked to pick Shevchenko by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. This put the Ukranian's Stamford Bridge in doubt, but he looks set to stay in London, where he will hope to prove his worth in 07/08.
