Oscar bids farewell to Chinese Super League

The highest-paid foreigner in Chinese soccer history is bidding an emotional farewell to the country as Brazilian star Oscar longs for new challenges near home after an almost eight-year stint in the Chinese league.

Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port's Brazilian midfielder, Oscar, has hailed the sense of security, as well as his emotional bond with the East China metropolis, where he's embraced as an adopted home, as the biggest reason for his long stay in the Chinese league since the beginning of 2017, despite being far from the center stage of top European soccer.

Now, with his five-year contract extension with Shanghai set to expire at the end of this year, Oscar recently confirmed with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S Paulo that he's ready to move on from his China adventure.

The safe, comfortable, and affluent life in China, though, has made his departure a tough decision.

"I love Shanghai, but it's just too far away from home for us. We can't stay here forever," the 33-year-old playmaker told the newspaper in his native language, Portuguese, from his Shanghai apartment, overlooking the scenic Huangpu River. "My mom is getting older, my sisters are having babies. We want to be closer to home."

"Wherever I go, it won't be like here. There's no way to change that," said the former Brazilian international, who made a shocking move to leave Premier League giant Chelsea for the CSL at the end of 2016.

"The quality of life in China is unique in the world. I've never seen anything like it in Europe.

"My kids go to school and come back home by bus without worrying about safety. We can go out as much as we want at 2 am or 3 am, and go anywhere and nothing will happen.

"There are no drugs here. It's something from another world. Only those who are here, living here, understand how it feels," Oscar, a father of three children, said of life in China.

Back in 2016, the lure of CSL clubs, funded by millionaire owners from the retailing and real estate industries, proved too lucrative for some of Europe's biggest stars to turn down.

The likes of former Argentine international Carlos Tevez, Belgium star Axel Witsel, and Oscar's fellow countrymen Alexandre Pato and Paulinho all joined the top-flight Chinese league on staggering transfer fees.

Oscar, who was only 25 years old at that time as one of the most sought-after rising stars in Europe, left the Premier League for Shanghai in a transfer worth a reported 60 million euros ($66.5 million).

The attacking midfielder reportedly earns the world's third-highest annual salary at 24 million euros from his Chinese club, with his earnings exempted from a salary cap of 3 million euros for each import imposed by the CFA in 2020, just a year after he signed a contract extension with Shanghai Port.

Since his debut season in 2017, Oscar has gone on to make 234 appearances for the Shanghai club, scoring 72 goals to go with 131 assists in all league, domestic Cup, and continental competitions, helping the club lift the CSL championship twice and the Chinese FA Super Cup once.

The team is still on top of the league table at the moment with 63 points from 24 matches and is marching on to compete for its third league title in club history.

Currently, clubs from Brazil, Europe, and Qatar have already shown their interest in Oscar.

He will most likely make up his mind about the next destination of his career at the end of this CSL campaign in November, he said.

"My wife and I are anxious to know where we will go. We've been here for seven or eight years. It's a big change. The sooner we know, the better," he said.

The Shanghai club has promised him a future position in the club's management when he retires, although he believes there is still a long way off before he hangs up his boots.

"I love this club, and I've already helped out with a few other things. When the present contract ends, I will continue to keep in touch with the club. That might be a plan for the future," he added.

Oscar, who plays an inspirational role in the club's upfront with China's national team core striker Wu Lei, also showed his disappointment with the performance of the Chinese national team in recent years.

"Even though players perform well in their respective clubs, when it comes to the national team, they just don't seem to be able to match up," said Oscar, commenting on China's 7-0 defeat to Japan and 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in the World Cup Asian qualifiers.

"In all the years I've been here, I've hardly seen any youngsters perform exceptionally well. China has some very good players, but they are mostly no longer young. No.7 Wu Lei in our team is the top player in the Chinese Super League. He is very capable. But when it comes to the circumstances in the national team, people expect him to do everything. His responsibility should be to score goals, but he is not doing well."

Ge Xuan contributed to this story