44: Oscar, Brasil, Panini 2014 FIFA World Cup Brasil Official Licensed Sticker Album

Mat Jolin-Beech takes a look at a player who seemingly sacrificed his prime years as a professional to chase the big bucks in an upstart league. While this epithet could easily apply to Sadio Mane or Ivan Toney the focus is slightly further east and on a Chelsea team which almost acted as a feeder club for the Chinese Super League in the 2010s. Someone probably ended up at Vitesse Arnhem too for good measure. Over to Mat.

The Saudi league is the current residence for ageing, over the hill footballers, and those seeking refuge from Europe and a huge pay check. And Ronaldo. But it is not he first foreign league from a non-footballing land – at least not one where it traditionally has a foothold. There was the US in the 70s with the North American Soccer League (I still feel dirty writing soccer and not football). We’re riding the Saudi and middle eastern wave right now – with the oil money attracting many who are seeking financial security for them and their families. But a decade ago there was China.

In the mid-2010s it was the destination for players seeking to make a quick buck, or a million, and not really care about the standard of football. Oscar, once of Chelsea and the Brazilian National Team fame (he was part of the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup), was one of those.

I thought of this recently when I saw news on the BBC that Guangzhou FC, China’s most successful professional side with eight league titles, was refused permission by the Chinese Football Association to play next season. The reason, ironically given the lavish spending by clubs and the country a decade ago, failure to pay off enough of their substantial debt. The club has had some big names since property developers China Evergrande bought the club in 2010, when it was languishing in the second tier. Anyone who knows about Chinese property development right now probably understands why they’re in a financial mess!

Marcello Lippi, Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning manager, won three CSL titles, a Chinese FA Cup and the AFC Champions League, whilst World Cup winning Brazil manager Big Phil Scolari won seven trophies in two-and-a-half years. But then, shit met the fan. The arse fell out of the league, the money dried up, and the problems mounted. The hopes of building a long and successful football legacy in China, leading to the nation hosting and winning the World Cup, long gone. Parent company Evergrande filed for bankruptcy in 2022, plunging Guangzhou FC into crisis. Oscar fled China and Shanghai Port in 2024 for a return to São Paulo, signing a three-year contract.

The failure of new money leagues makes me think that Saudi will go the way of China. The US, and the MLS, seems to actually be sticking now – but they’ve shifted slightly from big money signings although Mr Humble Messi shows money still talks. 

As an aside, there were some very, very big names, and the odd surprising one, that went to China and graced the field out there. These include, and in no particular order: Carlos (Judas) Tevez, Didier Drogba, Hulk, the Brazilian striker, not Bruce Banner, Robinho, the Brazilian striker, Pato, the Brazilian attacker, (I’m sensing a theme here) Nicolas Anelka the Brazil… oh wait, French striker, Eidur Gudjohnsen, the not Brazilian striker, and, to my surprise one Carsten Jancker. Yes, the late 90s German archetypal ‘big man up front’ formerly of Bayern Munich joined Shanghai Shenhua (no me neither) in 2006 managing a stunning seven games and no goals before returning to Europe the same year.