China reins in Tevez-like spending with view to World Cup success

Carlos Tévez has returned to Argentina and now China has started to focus on fewer big-money imports and more homegrown players

If André Villas-Boas leaving Shanghai to go and participate in the Dakar Rally was a surprising exit, that of Carlos Tévez was less so. After a season of diminishing returns on the pitch and a growing bank balance off it, it was almost inevitable that the Argentinian would add insult to the injuries, weight problems and homesickness that had defined his spell in China.

“It’s fine because I was on holiday for seven months,” the forward reportedly joked in an interview with Argentinian television on Monday. But when you take the money (£615,000 a week went the reports in December 2016 though Shanghai officials claim the figures were exaggerated) and don’t run so much then it’s best to keep quiet.

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