Chelsea midfielder Oscar will join Shanghai SIPG in a £60 million move next month, the club breaking the Chinese Super League transfer record for a third time in 12 months, according to the Guardian.
The deal for the Brazil international eclipses that of his new team-mate, and fellow Brazilian, Hulk, who joined SIPG from Zenit St Petersburg in June for a then record 55 million Euro (£47m).
That deal was reported to net Hulk an annual salary of 20 million Euros - making him the third highest paid player in the world, behind just Messi and Ronaldo - but Oscar is now expected to leapfrog his countryman as the club’s top earner.
Shanghai SIPG also broke the transfer record when they signed Elkeson from Guangzhou Evergrande for £16 million back in January.
The move will also see 25-year-old Oscar play under former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, who replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson in the SIPG hot seat last month.
Oscar has fallen out of favor at Stamford Bridge under new Blues boss Antonio Conte, having played just 11 matches this season. He has not started in the EPL for the leaders since mid-September.
Oscar will be the latest player with Chelsea connections to play in China, following Ramires, Demba Ba, Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba (who the Shanghai Shenhua infamously neglected to pay).
There are also rumors Blues skipper John Terry could be coming to Shanghai to join old Chelsea team-mate Gus Poyet's Shenhua (unless, that is, yet another former Chelsea boss, Luiz Felipe Scolari, can tempt him to CSL Champions Guangzhou Evergrande).
Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea...
Moving on - Shanghai SIPG finished third in the CSL last season. Their 2017 season kicks off at the Shanghai Stadium on February 7 with an AFC Champions League qualifying play-off against either Sukhothai of Thailand or Yadanarbon of Myanmar.
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