Oscar: A 7-year journey with Chinese football

In December 2016, the Chinese Super League (CSL) entered its golden age after several years of heavy investment. A series of world- class players such as Paulinho, Ramires, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Gervinho, Hulk, Burak Yilmaz, Jackson Martinez joined Chinese clubs.

Then there are Carlos Tevez, Axel Witsel, Javier Mascherano, Yannick Carrasco and Alexandre Pato. Fabio Cannavaro, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Manuel Pellegrini and Andre Villas-Boas are some of the famous coaches who have worked in the CSL.

Oscar was in his fifth season at Chelsea. The Brazilian had made over 200 appearances for the club, winning the Premier League and Europa League. He also had 48 caps for Brazil.

Oscar is only 25 and entering his prime. An offer from Shanghai SIPG (renamed Shanghai Port in 2021) has him heading east quickly.

Oscar was welcomed when he arrived in China in 2016 (Photo: Getty)

World football star leaves Europe at age 25

Oscar's decision to move to China at the peak of his career surprised experts and fans.

Why would a talented footballer like Oscar trade the Champions League for something relatively obscure? Why would he do it at such a young age instead of waiting until his mid-30s like most good players do?

The simplest answer is because of money. However, first of all, we must remember how excellent Oscar was from the early days of his career.

Oscar on the cover of Placar magazine.

Oscar burst onto the Brazilian scene with Internacional in 2011, scoring 10 league goals and earning rave reviews from local media. Placar magazine put Oscar on its cover shortly after his 20th birthday, calling him "Xavi of the savannah".

Oscar is not a player who accepts comparisons easily. He is not a deep rhythmic player like Xavi, nor is he a pure playmaker, despite regularly wearing the No. 10 shirt for club and country.

He established himself at Chelsea with an impressive strike against Juventus but is clearly not a prolific goalscorer. Oscar has a bit of every great quality.

Oscar is good on the ball and makes smart runs into the box, he is capable and tactically astute. Oscar doesn't make big plays, he makes the game flow around him.

That was especially true for Brazil, where Oscar dominated the starting line-up from 2012 to 2014. Oscar's excellence in the 2014-15 season, when Chelsea won the Premier League under Jose Mourinho, earned him praise from Zico and Kaka.

However, it must be admitted that Oscar's form then declined and, like most Chelsea players, he struggled the following season. When Antonio Conte arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016, Oscar was pushed aside and began to consider his options for a move away. Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan were among the suitors.

"I almost joined Atletico but Chelsea refused," Oscar told Brazilian website UOL in 2021. "Chelsea asked for €50 or €60 million and no one was paying that much at the time.

Then there was an offer from China. It was not an easy decision, but I was on the bench and I didn't like to continue sitting on the bench."

Oscar became a mainstay of Chelsea under Mourinho (Photo: Getty).

Shanghai SIPG arrives at the right time

Shanghai SIPG have agreed to pay a transfer fee of €60m (around £52m) for Oscar. The Brazilian star's net salary is said to be around €24m a year.

Reports at the time estimated that Oscar's salary increased by as much as 400%, making him one of the highest paid footballers in the world.

"China has incredible financial power and sometimes makes offers that are hard to refuse," Oscar admitted in an interview with media outlet Copa90 in 2017.

Oscar went to China for money, that's undeniable, but looking at his situation, it's also completely normal.

Like many Brazilian footballers, Oscar grew up poor. His father died in a car accident when he was three years old. His mother, Sueli, raised Oscar and his two sisters alone, selling clothes. Football was a salvation, not only for Oscar but for those he loved.

Of course, the sports world is rife with stories of stars squandering their money, making a lot of it and losing it just as quickly. Brazilian footballers often share their money with family and friends.

How much is enough to ensure a comfortable life for a family and their children? In the absence of an exact numerical answer, “more money” is probably the most reasonable answer. Oscar certainly doesn’t deny this.

“All football players want to earn money to help their families,” he said in a 2017 interview. “When I decided to come to China, I thought more about my family than my career.”

At that stage, however, Oscar seemed fairly certain that it was only temporary. "I hope that in two or three years I can return to a big European club," he said. "What I like most is playing at a high level. I'm young and I'll be back."

Oscar celebrates winning the 2018 CLS championship (Photo: Getty).

However, Oscar did not do that, he extended his contract for 5 years in December 2019. In terms of timing, this was a genius move.

A month later, the Chinese government imposed a personal salary cap of €3 million a year on foreign players in the CSL. As a result, the number of stars in the league dwindled rapidly, but Oscar still received an annual salary of €24 million.

However, from a professional perspective, Oscar has won two CSL titles, but in the past 7 years only Chinese audiences have seen him play regularly, his image at home has receded into the past. A player who started every match for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup has not been called up since leaving Chelsea.

Indeed, in a 2021 interview, Oscar said: "When I accepted the offer from China, I knew that I would be overlooked and left out of the Brazilian team. It took me a while to accept that.

Whenever I'm not called up to the squad, I look at the list of players who are called up. I know I'm better than some of them."

Tite, who has been in charge of Brazil from 2016 to 2022, has been open to picking players from Chinese clubs during his tenure. Paulinho and Renato Augusto have been regulars, but both have worked with Tite before, while Oscar has been overlooked.

"There is a big prejudice against players who play in China," he said. "It shouldn't be like that. People look down on players just because they are here."

Oscar was not called back to the Brazilian national team after moving to China (Photo: Getty).

Oscar's great value to Chinese football

Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira led Shanghai SIPG from December 2017 to December 2020. He has good reasons to explain Oscar's impact on the team and on Chinese football in general.

He has particularly fond memories of the 2018 season, when Oscar inspired Shanghai SIPG to their first ever domestic title, scoring 12 goals and assisting 19.

Pereira said: "When he's in good form, Oscar can change a game, he has outstanding qualities. You need a strong personality to understand the limitations of your team-mates and help them develop.

If you go there with the right attitude, you make friends and help others to improve. That's what Oscar has done. He's done a lot for the club over the years."

That view is echoed by Edward Still, who was an assistant to Pereira's successor, Ivan Leko. Oscar, he says, is not in Shanghai to hang out and collect a salary.

"Oscar's attitude has been fantastic," Still said. "He's definitely got a big responsibility, from a media and fan perspective. We've got some good players in the squad, but not at the level of Oscar. All eyes are on him. Oscar takes it seriously. He really does."

"Oscar is open, easy to talk to and easy to coach. There is always an open conversation with him about what is being done. He is not a machine in training, but Oscar is very professional, which has a big impact on everyone else. When he pushes, everyone else will continue to push."

Coach Vitor Pereira (left) and Oscar (right) attend a press conference in 2019 (Photo: Getty).

It's easy to imagine tensions rising within a team with such a disparity in talent and salary, but Still dispelled that notion.

"Oscar is almost part of the dressing room, not distant or isolated from the rest of the team," Still said. "Of course, there is a difference in quality that sometimes frustrates him, but that's what you expect. There is no tension about his salary. Everyone knows Oscar played for Chelsea and was a great player."

"It's quite simple, Oscar is so much better than everyone else that the Chinese players realise that it's good for them too. He brings quality to the team and the wider exposure has helped them get more exposure.

It's a win-win situation for everyone. Not only does Oscar get a lot of money and all the attention, but he makes the whole team better."

Both Pereira and Still said Oscar's family has settled in and is happy in Shanghai. "It's a great place to live," Still said. "Oscar's kids are in really good schools, it's very comfortable. You can see why he continues to stay there."

Perhaps this is the answer to the question of why Oscar did not return to Europe after two or three years to consolidate his career in top-flight football and try to return to the Brazilian national team.

Pereira had dinner with Oscar on a recent trip to China, describing his salary as "very unrealistic", but said the money he earns is not the only factor keeping the player in China.

"He's adapted very well to life in Shanghai. His wife and children love it there and they have lots of friends. If Oscar didn't like it, he wouldn't stay," Pereira said.

The door to return to Europe remains open

Seven years have passed, the Chinese Super League has changed a lot. Now when talking about the most famous stars of the tournament, names that are still unfamiliar to world fans such as Fran Merida, Jurgen Locadia, Joao Carlos Teixeira will be honored.

A month ago, Marouane Fellaini was still attached to the CSL, but now the former Belgium international has also said goodbye.

The world's top stars have been leaving the CSL one after another over the past seven years, looking for better football, better pay or both. All the world's top names have left, except Oscar.

Oscar is the biggest star at CLS at the moment (Photo: Getty).

Oscar is 32 years old this year, he just won the 4th national championship of his career. It seems that he has no intention of leaving Shanghai Port at the moment. So how long will Oscar stick with CSL?

Oscar said that many clubs outside China have contacted him in recent years. In early 2023, for example, Flamengo offered to loan him during the Chinese Super League break. Pereira is the coach of Flamengo and is keen on a reunion.

Pereira explained: "I tried to bring Oscar back to Brazil. We had a sincere conversation and it almost happened but the Chinese side said no, they were afraid of losing him and wanted to keep him, even when the leagues were suspended.

Shanghai Port were afraid that Oscar would love football in Brazil so they refused. Oscar wasted months doing nothing when he could have been training and playing."

A year earlier, there had also been interest from Barcelona. Oscar made no secret of the fact that a move to the Nou Camp attracted him. "It's great when a big club is interested in you," he told TNT Sports Brasil. "It would be a great opportunity and good for my career."

However, nothing happened after that, Oscar stated in an interview: "I still have a contract here and the club has done a lot for me. There is nothing for me to complain about." If nothing unexpected happens, Oscar will stay in China until his contract expires, in November 2024.

Oscar is almost certain to play an eighth year for Shanghai Port (Photo: Getty).

Oscar was 33 at the time. It was safe to say his dream of playing for Brazil again had been dashed, but could there be a final chance for him in South America or Europe?

Pereira believes fitness will not be an issue. "Oscar can still play in Europe," he said. "I have no doubt about that. There is obviously a difference between China and Europe in terms of tempo, intensity and strength, so Oscar will need a few weeks to get up to speed, but he can still play at a high level."

Oscar himself has a similar view, telling UOL: "With my physique and style of play, I think I have a chance to return to play for a big club in Europe."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/oscar-hanh-trinh-luu-lac-7-nam-cung-bong-da-trung-quoc-20231230053718212.htm