From the publishers of THE HINDU VOL.29 :: NO.33 :: Aug. 19, 2006 • Contents
	COVER STORY New boys to watch Andriy Shevchenko Club: Chelsea Position: Striker The two-time Serie A top-scorer for AC Milan and the all-time leading scorer in the Champions League is Roman Abramovich's favourite. The billionaire Chelsea owner had no hesitation in splashing GBP 30m to bring him to his club. If the lethal Ukrainian adjusts to the pacier Premiership, where attackers are not as well protected by referees from physical defenders as in Italy and Spain, we could see a fight-to-finish between two great forwards of modern times, Shevchenko and Thierry Henry, for the honour of being the top-scorer for the season. Michael Ballack Club: Chelsea Position: Central midfield Easily the best attacking midfielder in the world today along with Juan Roman Riquelme. He moved to Chelsea in the summer on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract with Bayern Munich. It remains to be seen how well he links up with Frank Lampard, a similar sort of player, in the central midfield. If the partnership is not working, manager Jose Mourinho may well use the German captain as his only attacking midfielder. Tomas Rosicky Club: Arsenal Position: Left-midfield/central midfield Wenger signed the Czech international from Borussia Dortmund for GBP 6.8m and it is clear that his speed and work rate impressed the Arsenal manager, who loves pace and width in the Premiership. Though he played in the centre for Dortmund, and for the Czech Republic in Germany 2006, when he was forced to even play as a forward because of injuries to strikers Koller and Milan, it is clear that Wenger will be using him as a replacement for left-sided midfielder Robert Pires. Mark Gonzalez Club: Liverpool Position: Left midfield Watch out for the quick Chilean left-midfielder who made a fabulous start to his Liverpool career by coming off the bench in the 85th minute and scoring the winner in the club's Champions League Third Round Qualifier against Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. Dimitar Berbatov Club: Tottenham Position: Forward The Bulgarian striker, who has excelled for Bayer Leverkeusen in the last two seasons, was signed by manager Martin Jol for a sum of GBP 10.9m. He could well be the surprise package of the season . Printer friendly page   Send this article to Friends by E-Mail Contents • Daily Sports • The Hindu • Business Line • Frontline • Publications • eBooks • Images Copyright © 2006 Sportstar Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Sportstar.