* Shevchenko seeks new club, in talks with Dynamo Kiev
* Cole and Zhirkov close to comeback
* Ancelotti says Champions League opponents will be tough
(Adds reports Shevchenko in talks with Kiev)
By Clare Lovell
COBHAM, England, Aug 28 - Andriy Shevchenko will
quit Chelsea by the end of the month because the London side
cannot guarantee him regular first-team football, Chelsea coach
Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
The Ukraine striker and former European Footballer of the
Year, who turns 33 on Saturday, has been linked with a return to
former club Dynamo Kiev but no deal had been struck with any
club yet, Ancelotti said.
"Shevchenko will decide to go play for another team," said
the Italian, who coached the Ukraine captain last season at AC
Milan where the striker was on loan from Chelsea.
"He will take this decision; it is not our problem to choose
the team right for him," Ancelotti said after a training session
for Saturday's Premier League game against promoted Burnley at
Stamford Bridge.
RIGHT DECISION
"I spoke with Shevchenko and he would like to play with
continuity here. For me it is difficult to give him this
possibility and I think that he has taken the right decision."
The Ukraine captain was in Kiev on Friday to talk to his
former club Dynamo, local media reported.
"I've said it many times it was my dream to bring Andriy,"
Dynamo president Ihor Surkis was quoted as saying by the
Segodnya newspaper. "There's a good chance that he will join us
but nothing has been agreed just yet."
Shevchenko, who joined Chelsea from Milan for a club record
30 million pounds ($48.86 million) in 2006 in a deal smoothed by
Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich, never settled at the
London club and scored only nine league goals in two seasons.
The striker is one of the leading scorers in the Champions
League, however, and would like to add to his tally.
He was in danger of being left out of Chelsea's Champions
League squad, which Ancelotti must name on Tuesday, but the
Italian said that had nothing to do with Shevchenko's decision.
"Shevchenko did not have the possibility to play regularly.
He has taken the decision only for this."
DROGBA MISSING
Chelsea were drawn on Thursday to play Porto, Atletico
Madrid and Apoel in the first stage of the Champions League.
They will have to do without top striker Didier Drogba for
the first three games of the competition while he serves a ban
for unsportsmanlike conduct following the side's semi-final
elimination by Barcelona last season.
Ancelotti said Porto and Atletico would be tough. Porto had
a strong European pedigree and Atletico would be difficult to
play in Madrid but he added: "Probably Porto, Atletico and Apoel
will have more problems playing Chelsea."
On Saturday, Chelsea will again be without England winger
Joe Cole, out since January with a knee injury, Russian Yuri
Zhirkov (knee), and defenders Brazilian Alex (groin) and
Portuguese Paulo Ferreira (knee).
"Joe Cole started to train with us on Tuesday. With him we
have to stay calm; we have to put him in the squad at the right
time and now is not the right time. After the international game
we can be more precise," Ancelotti said.
Ancelotti added that Zhirkov, Chelsea's only significant
signing of the transfer window, could be fit to play for Russia
in World Cup qualifiers on Sept. 5 and 9, after recovering from
his knee problem, and could then make his Chelsea debut.
The Italian said he had "no news" about further Chelsea
purchases before the window closed next Tuesday. He added,
however, that rumours that Chelsea had made a new bid for Bayern
Munich's French forward Franck Ribery were "not true".
(Editing by Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris; To query or comment
on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)