Chelsea have agreed on a £60m bid for Brazilian midfielder, Oscar, from Chinese club, Shanghai SIPG.
Oscar, 25, has dropped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, and has not found much success under Antonio Conte. The Brazilian has not started a Premier League match since his below-par performance in Chelsea’s 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool in September.
Oscar joined the Blues from Brazilian club, Internacional, for £25m in 2012, and has scored 38 goals in 203 appearances for the club in all competitions. He started his Chelsea career on a positive note, and played a key role for the side that won the Premier League and the League Cup in 2014-15.
However, in the last 18 months, he has struggled for consistency. The Brazilian is viewed as surplus to requirements at the Bridge, and his role in the side has lessened since Conte’s decision to switch to a 3-4-3 formation in late September.
The interest in Oscar from the Chinese clubs is not new. Back in February, Oscar had turned down the chance to join Jiangsu Suning, who signed his former Chelsea team-mate Ramires for more than £20m in January, in a deal worth £57m.
This time, however, the situation is different. Oscar understands that he is no longer a key player at Chelsea, and he is reportedly weighing the offer from the Chinese Super League club, which would make him Chelsea’s most lucrative sale ever.
David Luiz, Oscar’s fellow compatriot, holds the record for Chelsea’s most expensive sale ever when he left Stamford Bridge to join Paris Saint-Germain for £50m in the summer of 2014.
Oscar is still a very good player, and he should consider playing at a top European club, rather than moving to China. It seems that the move is purely driven on financial grounds, as he would massively increase his current £90,000-a-week wages at the Chinese club.
He would link up with former Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas, who was appointed Shanghai SIPG manager in November, should he complete his move in January.
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