Samp chief reveals Sheva interest

Shevchenko has spent two difficult seasons in the Premier League after making the move from AC Milan to London for £30 million in 2006, and has been linked with a return to his former employers at the San Siro.

But Marotta said: "Sheva would be proud to join us, but the problem would be his wages."

The 31-year-old, who has scored just nine goals in 47 Premier League appearances for the Blues, admits he misses life in Italy but Chelsea have so far resisted pressure to offload the underperforming hitman.

Marotta feels his club can succeed where Milan have failed by luring Shevchenko on a loan deal, despite conceding the Ukrainian's wage demands could prove a stumbling block.

"We want to solve our problems in front of goal with a player capable of exciting the crowd but who can also score plenty of goals," he told Italian newspaper Secolo XIX.

"Lots of great players like Samp and the transfer is a complete possibility."

Last season the Italian club managed to rescue another striker from a difficult situation overseas when they signed Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid.

Marotta believes the lessons learned from that deal will give his club confidence as they try to prise Shevchenko from Chelsea.

"We're in the same situation with Sheva [as we were with Cassano]," he continued. "The transfer of Cassano was difficult to carry out but he came here, so never say never."