The Ukraine striker took legal action against the Daily Mirror, which also alleged that fellow players blamed him for a row between Abramovich and the club's manager Jose Mourinho.

The tabloid also claimed that Shevchenko had wanted Abramovich to replace Mourinho with Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of his former club AC Milan.

Despite complaints from Shevchenko's lawyers, the paper then went on to print allegations that he had complained about Mourinho and would have been happy to leave Chelsea on loan last year, London's High Court heard.

His lawyer, John Kelly, told the court that Shevchenko did not make any of the statements attributed to him in reports this year.

The claims had damaged his reputation, upset him and his family and created embarrassment at his club, Kelly added.

The newspaper's owners, MGN Limited, accepted that the allegations were untrue, apologised and will pay undisclosed damages, as well as the player's costs.

Shevchenko, the 2004 European footballer of the year, joined Chelsea from Italian giants AC Milan in 2006 for 30 million pounds (44 million euros, 60 million dollars), a British record.