Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar is finally ending his controversial stint in China after making more than £100 million in the Far East.
The Brazilian midfielder was one of many household names to make the move to the Chinese Super League back in January 2017.
After five years at Chelsea, Oscar signed for Shanghai SIPG, now Shanghai Port FC, in a reported £60 million move.
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His contract also included mammoth weekly wages of £400,000-a-week, which made him one of the highest-paid players in world football.
He is said to have made around four times as much as he would have had he stayed in Europe and collected enough from his China paycheck to buy Juventus' Allianz Stadium.
Oscar was just 25 when he made the transfer and his decision to leave for China at that stage of his career disappointed many given he had interest from Juventus, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan.
Across five-and-a-half years, he has played 116 times in the CSL, scoring 35 goals and registering 74 assists. Oscar has also gone on to captain the team and helped the team win their first league title in 2018.
The ex Sao Paulo and Internacional man was heavily linked with a move to Barcelona in 2022 but now, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, he is heading back to his native Brazil with Flamengo.
Oscar has already posted a picture of himself in their shirt and a deal is expected to be done soon, with the player again becoming teammates with David Luiz and Filipe Luis, as well as linking up with Arturo Vidal.
He had always hinted at returning to European football after his stint in China was done and regularly defended his move, which he claims was made with his family in mind.
"Every football player, or every person who works, wants to earn money to help their families," Oscar said, as per The Guardian.
"I came from a social background in Brazil that is very poor. We didn’t have anything. This is the fruit of my work and when I earn this, it is because I conquered it. The same way I came here, I will be able to return to Europe. Whatever decision I make, somebody will talk good or bad about it.
"All the foreign players who come here are at a really high level. China has incredible financial power and sometimes makes offers that players can’t refuse. But, as we’ve seen with Paulinho moving to Barcelona, the players on our team – like myself, Hulk and Elkeson – have enough quality to return to Europe."
Topics: Chinese Super League, Chelsea
Josh Lawless