The world’s highest-paid footballer has been told he must try harder

September 28, 2017
| Report Focus News

Shanghai Shenhua made Carlos Tevez the best-paid footballer in the world when it signed the 33-year-old in December 2016.

Transferring from Boca Juniors, the Argentine arrived in the Chinese Super League (CSL) with a huge reputation having won major honours at Manchester United, Manchester City, and Juventus.

Shanghai Shenhua was so confident in Tevez it even gave him a mammoth contract worth £615,000 ($823,000) per week, making him the highest-paid player in the world.

But, after a return of three goals in 13 CSL appearances, Tevez finds himself under-fire as the Shanghai management is questioning whether it is getting value for money.

“He should have realised that he will not be picked in the starting lineup purely on reputation,” Ma Yue, a club spokesperson, wrote on popular Chinese social media site Weibo, after Tevez was omitted from the Shanghai team for two games in a row.

Under CSL rules, Chinese clubs are only permitted to field three foreign players.

Tevez is one of five foreign footballers at the Hongkou Football Stadium and Yue warned he could lose his place in the team to Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins, South Korean defender Kim Kee-hee, or Colombian pair Giovanni Moreno and Fredy Guarín.

“We have five healthy foreign players… if he wants to be one of the three who are eligible to play, he’s got to show the real stuff.”