China beat Saudi Arabia by 13 years. Starting from 2010, the government relied on some big names in European and international football to grow the championship and the entire national football movement. Thus, players such as Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Seydou Keita, Lucas Barrios, Guillaume Hoarau, Marouane Fellaini and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco allowed themselves to be tempted and seduced by the millions that the various clubs spent (often excessively) to strengthen themselves.
Some of them were just passing through, others stayed a little longer. This is the case of Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior, for everyone Oscar: the Brazilian surprised everyone when he decided to leave European football in December 2016, at the age of 25. A much criticized choice, but the former Chelsea player just couldn’t refuse the very rich offer of 24 million per season. He moved to Shanghai SIPG and stayed for eight years, playing 248 games in all competitions, with 77 goals and 141 assists on his score sheet. The former Internacional Porto Alegre player also filled his trophy cabinet with 5 new titles: he won the championship three times (2018, 2023 and 2024), the Chinese Super Cup once (2019) and the Chinese Cup once (2024 ).
Now, however, the time has come to say goodbye. Purchased for 61 million euros, he played his last match in China yesterday and also converted a penalty. His contract will expire on December 31st and yesterday he said goodbye to everyone in tears; the last great international star, 33 years old, thus leaves the Asian country as a champion after having pocketed around 192 million in total. A return to his homeland is probably in his future.