Chelsea midfielder Oscar has recently made the switch to Chinese football side Shangai SIPG, a move likely to end his career as an elite footballer. The Brazilian midfielder is the latest addition to the list of footballers swapping the competitive leagues of Europe with the immense wealth of China.
The move marks a disappointing end to the Chelsea career of the Brazillian midfielder, who recently was christened as the “new Kaka”. The legendary footballer was crowned as World Footballer of the Year at the age of 25, but at the same age, Oscar is about to end his career with a move to the backwaters of football.
Like Hulk, Ramirez, Jackson Martinez and other players who have swapped Europe for China in the prime of their careers, it is evident that Oscar values a huge payday, over the quality of football.
With a reported transfer sum of £60million and £500,000 in weekly wages, Oscar is set to join the likes of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as one of the highest paid footballers in the world.
It’s interesting to note that most of the footballers who headed for China in their prime are of South American descent, Alex Texeira, Renato Augusto and Hulk from Brazil, Jackson Martinez and Fredy Guarin from Colombia, Ezequiel Lavezzi from Argentina to name a few.
Although money is a significant factor in the decision making for a lot of people, the argument to be made is that footballers already earn more money than 80% of the world.
Oscar has already made a fortune in England, and will still have been paid huge money if he had moved to another club in a major European league.
To move all the way to China for the gold nuggets depicts someone who is greedy and unambitious.
The quality of football in China is entirely non-existent and isn’t a place for any elite footballer who cares about the game. The national team has only made one appearance in a World Cup 15 years ago, and they were dreadful in the tournament, losing all 3 of their group matches.
In the ongoing qualifiers for the FIFA 2018 World Cup, China sits bottom of their group, with 2 points from 5 matches. Things are so dire that after a recent defeat to Syria, fans took to the streets to demand the resignation of the Chinese FA’s Chairman Cai Zhenhua.
Chinese football has in the recent past been plagued by countless issues of match fixing, with many players, officials and management personnel facing different penalties, ranging from losing their jobs to being banned from football, even to the extent of serving jail time. The core of Chinese football is rotten, and really should be no place for any player serious about his football career.
It wasn’t too long ago when Mourinho consistently left Mata on the bench in a bid to accommodate Oscar. The Spaniard ended up leaving for Manchester United, an even bigger club for playing time. This is the sort of career move a lot of people were expecting Oscar to emulate.
Oscar has featured just 11 times under Antonio Conte, so his reasons for leaving Chelsea are understandable. There will, however, have been no shortage of suitors in England, Spain, Germany and Italy to take him on. Oscar has chosen a bed of money; now he must learn to lie in it, with his 46 Brazillian caps.