© EuroFootball.com
Former London "Chelsea" player and coach Gianluca Vialli believes that the club's striker Andriy Shevchenko will show the kind of performance expected from him, although rumors are circulating that the "Blues" want to get rid of the striker valued at 30 million pounds sterling.
"It's normal when you come from another country. I think we will soon see him in the Premier League as one of the world's best strikers - there is no doubt about that," Vialli said in an interview with the BBC.
The Italian believes that the Ukrainian A. Shevchenko, who has so far scored only 3 goals this season, has had his talent hindered by a knee injury received before the World Cup: "I don't think he was able to play at 100 percent. When he joined the club, he was injured before the World Cup and had too little time to recover."
"He played in Italy and had to adapt to the Italian style of play, and now he has to adapt to the English style of play. All of this takes time, and it takes time to reach top form," added Vialli.
On Tuesday, rumors surfaced that the potential replacement for A. Shevchenko could be the 22 million pound sterling rated "Valencia" striker David Villa.
Meanwhile, Vialli's opinion on Michael Ballack, who also joined the club during the summer transfer window, was somewhat different. Vialli believes that the German national team captain plays according to his abilities since arriving in London.
"M. Ballack is a very good player and I think he does his job in the Chelsea team, it's just when you play with many great players it's hard to be in the spotlight. He could play very well, but he is overshadowed because Frank Lampard or John Terry play impressively; in that case, he can only be a part of the team. That's the situation with him and A. Shevchenko at the moment," said the former Chelsea coach.
When asked if he would like to return to the big sport, the Italian replied: "I am happy with what I am doing now, and I am not in a rush to return. But if a favorable opportunity arises, I will consider it."
Gianluca Vialli, as a footballer, moved from Turin's "Juventus" to London's "Chelsea" team in 1996 for 12 million pounds sterling. Since 1998, he became a playing coach at the London club. From 2000, he coached the "Watford" team, but was dismissed in 2002.
At the age of 42, Vialli wrote the book "The Italian Job," which was nominated for the title of sports book of the year. Currently, he works as a football expert on one of the Italian television channels.
