Andre Villas-Boas promises Shanghai SIPG president return on investment this season
Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager tells boss“that at the end of the season he would sleep with one trophy” after Oscar signing
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Shanghai SIPG coach Andre Villas-Boas on Monday said his team must deliver silverware after the club spent big preseason including their high-profile signing of Oscar.
SIPG begin their AFC Champions League campaign next week in South Korea against FC Seoul after Oscar, their €60 million (HK$496m) signing from Chelsea, helped them reach the group stage with a goal on his debut in the play-offs.
The team finished third in the Chinese Super League last year, 12 points behind China’s dominant team, Guangzhou Evergrande.
“It’s really important for us to try to shorten the distance to the top, to be first, to be there winning trophies,” Villas-Boas said.
“I think it’s a good time for myself, representing the team, to thank the group for all the financial effort they have done at the beginning of the season.
“Now I think it’s up to us to make the difference in the pitch to make sure that we reach our objectives, everybody’s dream in football of winning.
‘We’re pioneers,’ says €60m Oscar of big-money moves to China
“I’ve promised the president that at the end of the season he would sleep with one trophy.
“I hope that me and the players can give this special night to him at the end of the season.”
Oscar’s deal with Shanghai SIPG is thought to be €24m a season, which would put him above Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of Barcelona in a list of the world’s best-paid players.
It is still below the €38m reportedly paid by city rivals Shanghai Shenhua to Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez, which rates him as the highest-paid footballer on the planet.
Leaving Chelsea for China is ‘not a step down’, says €60 million Shanghai signing Oscar
Chinese teams have splashed out record-breaking sums on players over the past year, although major deals have largely dried up after the announcement of salary caps and other curbs in January.
