When a club pays a player close to a million pounds a week, you’d expect him to start week in and week out and have a major impact on the results of the team. But that is not what Carlos Tevez, the world’s highest paid player, is doing at Shanghai Shenhua.
With a niggling calf injury limiting Tevez’s involvement to just 11 matches and two goals, Shanghai Shenhua have struggled for the majority of the season as they sit in the bottom half of the season with less than 10 games to be played.
Tevez who is reportedly homesick was granted a return to his homeland ahead of the International Break this weekend. The club granted the player permission only because he promised to return to the side on August 30th at the end of the month.
Shanghai in a statement said: “According to the request from Carlos Tevez to our club, after discussion, we now approve his request. He’s permitted to go back to Argentina and receive treatment at the Clinica Jorge Bombicino and he must rejoin the team on Aug. 30 and participate in training.”
While ‘officially’ Tevez has returned to his native Argentina for treatment but after being spotted having lunch with Boca Juniors’ president Mauricio Marci. This prompted widespread speculation that Tevez, dubbed the ‘Homesick Boy’ by Chinese fans is angling for a return to his former team for a third stint.
Shanghai were quick to respond to this speculation with another statement. This one read: “Tevez had lunch with the president of Boca? We know nothing about that. He is now on holiday, he has the right to meet anyone he wants to, and this is his freedom. We won’t comment on something like that, let alone interfere with it. But we want to stress again that he will report to the club on August 30.”
To make matters more complicated, Boca have alleged that Shanghai have not paid the full amount of the transfer fee for Tevez after the first installment. The Argentine club have threatened to sue the Chinese side and are looking to take the team to the Court of Arbitration for the unpaid fee.
Readers’ can remember Tevez previously had a dispute with the club during his time at Manchester City under Roberto Mancini but returned following a three-month exile to lead the team to the Premier League title.
Shanghai fans are keeping hoping that this developing story ends positively for them and Carlos Tevez comes back with full fitness and scores a brace in all of their remaining fixtures but they are sure to be worried in the back of their mind.
Updates on the story will be available as soon as future developments take place.