UK Edition
Carlos Tevez's Chinese 'holiday': not the first footballer to regret lucrative move to far-flung league
Who could possibly have foreseen it? It turns out Carlos Tevez wasn't in China for the quality of the football after all.
The former Manchester United and City forward left Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua earlier this month, rejoining Boca Juniors for the third time in his career and ending his stint as the highest paid player in the world, having been lavished with a salary in excess of £600,000-a-week.
How did he celebrate the end of his gruelling 12-month stint in Shanghai that saw him make all of 16 appearances and score a grand total of four goals? By describing it as a "holiday".
It was not always this way. Cast your mind back to December 2016 and Tevez - like so many who chose to follow the riches on offer before him - was reeling off platitudes on his arrival in China.
"I want to thank you for the welcome," he said. "My family, siblings and friends are very happy, it was a very nice reception.
"I am very happy to be in Shanghai, to be able to demonstrate my football and do my best for the club.
"I appreciate the welcome, for my family and for me. It's a love that I haven't won yet, and I'd like to win it on the pitch.
"I know the CSL is getting tougher and tougher year after year, and this year will be extremely intense."
The realities of playing a poor version of football in an unfamiliar foreign land soon kicked in, with Tevez unhappy from the outset...
- Exhibit one: "I have gained in terms of family life but not from a football standpoint."
- Exhibit two: "In South America and Europe, players learn to play football when they're kids, but not here. So technically they are not very good."
- Exhibit three: "Their football is very different. The fans treat it very differently as well. And I don't think they are going to get to the same heights, not even in 50 years."
Then, having earned more than £30million for scoring four goals, he concluded his ordeal by sticking the boot in on his return to Argentina.
"When I landed in China, I wanted to return to Boca," he said. "It's fine for the Shanghai coach and president to criticise me, I didn't know what I was doing there. I was on holiday for seven months."
In news that will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, Tevez is not the first footballer to have an epiphany that life in China is not all it cracked up to be.
Five years before the Argentina international headed east, the Chelsea pair of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba forged a near identical path, with near identical results.
Anelka was the first to move to Shanghai Shenhua, proudly proclaiming: "I’ve always had fond feelings about Asia. I have been obsessed with the local cultures during my previous trips to the likes of Korea Republic, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau. So I jumped at the chance when Shanghai came to me with an offer."
He also stated: "I do know that Asian football in general is of a good standard and I’m looking forward to experiencing it first hand."
The inevitable troubles arrived almost immediately. The France striker was appointed player-coach when Jean Tigana was fired as manager, only to then react furiously when the club announced Sergio Batista at the helm.
"If there is still no one to support me and [the club] continue to play little tricks behind my back... then I will quickly decide whether or not to retire," said Anelka.
He lasted a total of one year in China, scoring three goals in 22 appearances before departing on loan to Juventus and and proclaiming: "It's nice to get back to a big club."
Upon arriving in Shanghai six months after his former Chelsea team-mate, Drogba insisted: "This is not a golden exile. It's a career choice. I assume it perfectly. And I know I can bring something to my new club.
"It would have been easier for me to stay in Europe, but I chose China. Money is not the most important [factor]. I am here for a whole new experience."
Although more successful - scoring eight goals in 11 appearances - Drogba lasted even less time than Anelka, desperately seeking an escape route after a wage disagreement a couple of months into his stint, before heading to Galatasaray on loan just two months later.
"I am looking forward to playing in the Champions League again, against the best clubs in Europe," he said. Nice money-making holiday, though.