Shanghai: Brazilian international midfielder Oscar was cheered by supporters of his new Shanghai club on Monday where some media reports said he would earn nearly $500,000 (Dh1.8 million) a week, making him the highest-paid player in the world.
Financial details of Oscar’s transfer to Shanghai SIPG from English Premier League club Chelsea have not been released, but media reports have suggested Shanghai paid 60 million euros ($62.6 million) to lure the 25-year-old to the Chinese super league club.
Fans wearing the team’s red and white colours shouted “Oscar, Oscar!” when the Brazilian arrived at Shanghai’s international airport on Monday. He stopped to sign autographs before being led away by team officials.
“I think it will definitely enhance the team’s capabilities,” Shao Lei, a 30-year-old SIPG supporter, said of the latest Brazilian to sign with the Shanghai club.
“Our goal is to strive for the championship, nothing else,” he told Reuters Television.
Some fans put it more bluntly.
“In the end if you do not pay the money then nobody would be willing to come over here,” said SIPG supporter Zou Jiahuo.
The figures cited in British media reports would make Oscar the world’s highest paid player at about 400,000 pounds a week ($490,760).
However, he could be eclipsed by Carlos Tevez when the Argentine signs a huge contract with Shanghai Shenhua that could earn the striker 615,000 pounds a week, according to media reports.
Shanghai SIPG finished third in the 2016 Chinese Super League season, which ran from March to the end of October, 12 points behind champions Guangzhou Evergrande and five behind second-placed Jiangsu Suning.
Oscar scored 38 goals in 203 appearances for Chelsea and lifted the Premier League, League Cup and Europa League titles during his four-and-a-half-year spell at the club.
He will link up with compatriots Hulk and Elkeson who are already plying their trade at Shanghai SIPG, led by former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas.
