Chelsea's Andriy Shevchenko inconsolable over failed AC Milan deal

Andriy Shevchenko was inconsolable last night after discovering his move to AC Milan collapsed because the Italian giants attempted to take him back to the San Siro on the cheap.

Chelsea were set to sell the once-mighty hitman back to his old club, but Milan were not interested in making the deal permanent or even paying half his £120,000-a-week wages.

Silvio Berlusconi, the man who has described Shevchenko as "like a son to me", has effectively left his favourite player in the lurch.

The AC Milan president had publicly promised to re-sign the player he sold to Chelsea for £32million two years ago. Berlusconi recently said: "I want to bring Shevchenko back to Milan and it is very likely I'll achieve it.

"It would be good for him to return to us. The fans know he'd be the ideal choice."

The Ukrainian striker has endured 24 months of torment at Chelsea and was desperate to complete a move back to the club where he scored 173 goals in seven seasons.

But any hope he had of a return was ended in the last 48 hours when Chelsea decided to pull the plug on negotiations.

A senior club source said last night: "There have been conversations with Milan about Shevchenko, but when they outlined their idea for a deal it was a definite non-starter.

"They had no interest in signing him permanently. They wanted him on loan and were only prepared to pay a fraction of his wages. They were quickly told it would never happen."

The snub by Milan represents a massive kick in the teeth for the 31-year-old, who had confided in close friends that he was confident of bringing his Chelsea nightmare to an end.

He has been left in limbo as Big Phil Scolari has planned for life without him this season.

In fact, during Chelsea's pre-season tour to the Far East and Russia Shevchenko has been on the field for only 35 minutes as a substitute.

His last cameo against Lokomotiv Moscow on Friday night culminated in him missing the critical spot-kick in a penalty shoot-out.

Shevchenko scored eight goals and made 21 appearances in all competitions last season.