Oscar to leave Chelsea for Shanghai SIPG in £60m deal in January
Saturday 24 December 2016 08:32, UK
Chelsea have agreed to sell Oscar to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG for a fee of around £60m.
The Brazil midfielder - who Sky sources understand will earn over £500,000 a week - will leave Stamford Bridge when the transfer window opens at the start of January, 12 months after compatriot and former Blues team-mate Ramires joined Jiangsu Suning.
A Chelsea statement made no mention of the fee, but Sky sources say it is in the region of £60m - around £41m more than they paid Brazilian club Internacional for the player. It is Chelsea's record sale, £10m more than the £50m Paris Saint Germain paid for David Luiz in 2014.
"I'm very happy to sign to SIPG. This is an important day for me to join to my new family in China," said Oscar, who we understand has agreed a four-year deal.
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Oscar arrived in London in 2012 and went on to win the Premier League, Europa League and League Cup during his four-and-a-half-year stay.
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The 25-year-old has featured just 11 times since Antonio Conte was appointed, but the Blues manager said this month he was sad to be losing a player who scored 38 goals in 203 appearances.
"Oscar is a really good player," Conte said. "A good player. For me, I was very proud to have him in my squad and have him as my player. I'm proud of his attitude, his commitment and his behaviour, which have been fantastic.
"I have great respect for every decision made by a single player. If you ask me, 'are you sorry?', then yes, I am sorry. I must be honest about this. But, also, I understand him and his decision."
Oscar's manager at Shanghai will be former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Chinese Super League clubs have already spent in excess of £350m on players this year, after President Xi Jinping led a campaign to turn China into a footballing power.
Meanwhile, Carlo Tevez, who married his childhood sweetheart on Thursday, looks set to join Super League team Shanghai Shenhua next week - and is due to pocket £610,000 a week.
