Is he undergoing the professional footballer's equivalent of a mid-life crisis? Or is he merely the first of many VIP players getting ready to leave the sinking ship of Italian football? Or did an unpleasant incident involving his wife have something to do with it? Andriy Shevchenko's not unexpected announcement last Friday that he would be leaving AC Milan, with a likely next stop of Chelsea in the Premiership, prompts a number of considerations, writes Paddy Agnew

With seven seasons, 172 goals, a Champions League trophy and a Serie A league title all behind him at AC Milan, Shevchenko is entitled to want a change. At 29 years of age, too, he (and his accountants) will be all too aware that this could be his last chance for a top-of-the-market transfer deal.

So, then, there is nothing strange or remarkable about his decision to move on, or is there? Has the current scandal rocking Italian football anything to do with his decision? Shevchenko himself sowed some seeds of mystification if not doubt when telling reporters last Friday: "The decision (to leave) is linked to personal motives, it has nothing to do with the coach, the players, the club or even money. It will be impossible for me to find another club like Milan but this is an important decision in my life, important for my family."

Doubtless aware that the Italian media had speculated that his wife, former US model Kristen Pazik, had had a major say in his move, Shevchenko was keen to hit that one on the head: "This is a decision I've taken for my family but my wife didn't decide it, we decided together. Kristen doesn't speak Ukraine, I don't speak English so we talk to one another in Italian. But the only language in which we can really tell our kids how much we love them is English."

Really? Earlier in the week, media reports had related a mysterious incident on a sunny Friday afternoon in March earlier this year. With her footballer husband away with AC Milan preparing to play Lecce at the other end of the country, Mrs Shevchenko opted to take herself and her 18-month-old baby for a walk in the park.

Unfortunately for her, she (allegedly) came across a group of Milan fans who recognised her as "Sheva's wife". Immediately, they accused her of being the main reason for her husband's desire to leave Italian football, a desire that has prompted consistent media speculation all season long.

According to some reports, the "fans" not only blamed Kristen but they also scared her by threatening to "smash your face in" if her husband left the club. The Milan park incident may have had little relevance but the fact is that things were looking bad for the Milan fans last week when the club's owner, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters that Shevchenko wanted to move to London.

Not even 30,000 Milan fan messages posted on a special, "Please Don't Leave Us, Sheva" site could change the Urkaine star's mind, it seems.

If and when Chelsea and Milan agree terms, one obvious question remains. How good a player will Chelsea be getting? There have been hints throughout the last season that age and injuries have begun to take their effect. Sheva's class, his competitive attitude and his goalscoring instinct remain spectacularly intact.

For what it is worth, we suspect that Chelsea will get a couple of tremendous seasons out of Sheva.

The stimulus of a new environment is likely to bring out the best in him whilst, just at the moment, as he stands on the verge of his first World Cup finals appearance with Ukraine, he is certainly not a player without motivation.

If Sheva fails to shine in Germany next month, however, Chelsea fans need not despair. For Ukraine, Sheva plays a very different type of game to his normal Milan style where he can look to such as Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaka et al to set things up for him.

For his national team, he tends to drop deeper, work harder and make space for his team-mates by dragging markers with him.

Having said that, Ukraine could well come out of a first round group that also includes Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. This could be a long, hot and triumphant summer in the Shevchenko household.