How big stars have fared in China after Cristiano Ronaldo expresses curiosity over a move
According to Luiz Felipe Scolari, Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed a subtle interest in the Chinese Super League. Scolari, who managed Ronaldo at international level during his spell as Portugal manager in the mid noughties, told Esporte Interativo at the Quina Awards in Lisbon: “He has asked me more than once what life in China is like, Cristiano Ronaldo. Why is it that Ronaldo cannot go to China?
“Yes, he asked me what it’s like to live in China, I gave him all the details. We also have to understand that Ronaldo has brands, there’s an industry, China is the biggest country in the world.
“Why is it that Ronaldo cannot go to China?” Luiz Felipe Scolari
“Then I told him what I always say: whoever has this opportunity has to go to China.”
If Ronaldo really is mulling over a future move to the Chinese Super League, he might want to consider how the biggest names to play in China have fared before him. Here are five of the highest-profile overseas players to feature for Chinese teams and how they got on.
Carlos Tevez
You have to respect Carlos Tevez’s spell in China for its sheer nonchalance. Reported to have signed for Shanghai Shenhua on a deal worth £615,000 a week after a surprise departure from boyhood club Boca Juniors in 2016, Tevez scored a profoundly average four goals in 20 appearances and was criticised for being unfit, overweight and generally not bothered.
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After clearing up on his massive salary, he re-signed for Boca this January and said: “It’s fine because I was on vacation for seven months.” If Ronaldo wants to make a ridiculous amount of money for very little effort, he need only follow Tevez’s lead.
Oscar
(Foto: Chinatopix / AP).
Oscar has made more of his time in China than Tevez, but still hardly looks like value for money for Shanghai SIPG. Having departed Chelsea for a reported £60m in December 2016, he scored three league goals in 22 appearances in his first season as SIPG finished runners-up to Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande.
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“China has incredible financial power and sometimes makes offers that players can’t refuse,” Oscar said late last year. God knows what it would take to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to the Chinese Super League but, rest assured, the finances involved would be gargantuan.
Paulinho
Having moved to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2015 after a hugely disappointing spell with Tottenham, Paulinho has since defied the conventional wisdom that a transfer to China heralds the end of a player’s career at the top level in Europe.
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Signed by Barcelona last summer after twice winning the league title in China, Paulinho has done surprisingly well since then and looks almost certain to earn a La Liga winners’ medal come May.
Ezequiel Lavezzi
One of the most exciting wide men in Europe during his time with Napoli and a mercurial talent with Paris Saint-Germain, Lavezzi signed for Hebei China Fortune in 2016 and scored a grand total of zero goals in 10 appearances in his first season.
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He has since salvaged his career in China with a relatively prolific season, though Hebei have failed to tear up trees as a team. Lavezzi was embroiled in a racism scandal after pulling his eyelids back during a club photoshoot, however, so that’s something for other players to very much avoid in future. Obviously.
Gervinho
The master of pointless stepovers and a true Arsenal anti-hero, Gervinho plays alongside Ezequiel Lavezzi for Hebei.
The Ivorian forward has continued to be fairly infuriating, chipping in with a goal every three or four games. Then again, Cristiano Ronaldo probably doesn’t need to ask Gervinho for tips as to how to score consistently in the Chinese Super League.
Special mentions: Hulk, who has been highly prolific for Shanghai SIPG over the last three seasons, John Obi Mikel, who has plodded on in the Tianjin TEDA midfield, and Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate Jose Fonte, who joined Dalian Yifang in February and went on to lose his first match 8-0.
