Chelsea are ready to write off more than £7million by paying up the final year of Andriy Shevchenko's contract.
The Ukraine striker is supposed to go back to Stamford Bridge this summer after a miserable loan spell at AC Milan.
But Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich recognises the negative impact the 32-year-old's return would have on the dressing room and is instead prepared to pay what remains of his original four-year deal.
For all the success Shevchenko enjoyed prior to joining Chelsea - he won the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League while with Milan - he represents one of the worst buys of the Abramovich era.
In addition to the record-breaking £30million transfer fee, there was a contract worth £140,000 a week, Abramovich's admiration for Shevchenko colouring his judgment when the evidence suggested that, at 29, his powers were diminishing.
He was never thought to have been Jose Mourinho's choice in May 2006, but simply a hero of the club's Russian billionaire.
Shevchenko started well enough, scoring in the Community Shield against Liverpool. But 22 goals in 75 appearances over the two seasons he spent with the club hardly represented a decent return when he so rarely, if ever, performed to the level he achieved in Italy.
Shevchenko's future remains uncertain. He has managed just two goals in 26 appearances for Milan this season and did not even make Ukraine's starting line-up when they met England at Wembley.
The MLS in America is now thought to be his most likely destination.
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