He may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing footballer ever but there is no question that Carlos Tevez was a quality striker during his decade in Europe.

The little Argentinean scored 164 goals, many of them spectacular, when he was with West Ham United, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus.

He was an elegant, energetic and efficient forward loved by supporters and who, in his prime, could arguably have been described as one of the game’s top five strikers.

But his best days are behind him. He is 33 and has spent last season playing for Boca Juniors in his home country – a decent enough team, but no Barcelona.

So how on earth has he suddenly become the highest paid player in the world?

Last week Tevez agreed a deal with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua worth more than €700,000 a week. It is a package that means the Argentinean will be earning nearly twice as much money as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. And he simply isn’t worth that kind of money.

There were signs that Chinese football had gone a little bit mad when Graziano Pellè signed for Shandong Luneng earlier this year for a deal worth over €300,000 a week. Talk about flexing your financial muscle for the sake of it…

But the insanity of that deal for a very mediocre Italian striker pales into insignificance compared to the Tevez signing – €39 million a year for a player hurtling towards retirement.

I said at the time that Shandong Luneng must have made a grammatical mistake with their big money transfer, thinking they were signing Pele not Pellè.

We can only assume that Shanghai Shenhua are basing their transfer policy on a dog-eared copy of the Panini sticker album of the 2010 World Cup, an era when Tevez was at his peak. It’s all rather mad.

Up to now, Chinese clubs haven’t really managed to attract the crème-de-la-crème to their Super League – it is mostly average players or players coming to the end of their careers who have been tempted by the promise of riches.

But Chelsea player Oscar is also moving to China in January on another extortionate package. He is neither mediocre nor coming towards the end of his career.

While the Tevez move is laughable and smacks of more money than sense, the Oscar one will strike fear into the hearts of European football’s traditional superpowers.

They won’t mind China splashing the cash on nobodies and has-beens. But when they start to take Brazilian internationals in their mid-20s from clubs like Chelsea, Europe’s big boys will start to get nervous.

You can bet your bottom renminbi that every single agent in the game will be making one or two calls to China when their client’s contract is drawing to a close

There is little or no chance that football’s balance of power will ever tilt away from Europe towards China. The great players will always want to play for traditional clubs like Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

But you can bet your bottom renminbi that every single agent in the game will be making one or two calls to China when their client’s contract is drawing to a close. Not necessarily because they want their player to move half way round the world, but just because they know the fear of them making that move will drive the wages up a bit more.

Just what football needs, eh?

The Kai’s the limit

Seeing as 2016 has officially been ‘Pick on Wayne Rooney Year’, it was no surprise to read people criticising him for enrolling his son in Manchester City’s academy.

Seven-year-old Kai has been training with Manchester United’s cross town rivals, which some United fans have had the audacity to say is disrespectful. Nonsense. There are many, entirely legitimate, reasons why Rooney may be taking his son to City’s academy.

For a start, he may feel a bit uneasy about his son training with the same club as him. If the youngster gets picked to play, there could be accusations of nepotism, for example.

Maybe he wants his son to try out different academies before deciding on which one suits him best. Kai had spent some time training with United before switching to City so maybe the Rooney family are just shopping around.

Or, how about this, maybe Rooney is sending Kai to City’s academy simply because it is better than United’s? In recent years City have placed far more emphasis on their youngsters than United.

Rooney is not the first United player to send his kids to City’s academy – Robin van Persie, Darren Fletcher and Phil Neville all did the same. And I don’t blame any of them one bit for doing what they think is right for their children. That’s something all parents want and club allegiance has nothing to do with it.

A farewell to patriotism

Talking of children and football, Celtic wonderkid Karamoko Dembele recently made his debut for the England Under-15s in their 5-3 win over Turkey.

Nothing unusual about that, of course.

What is slightly weird though is that Dembele made his debut for Scotland’s Under-16s just a month ago.

If you haven’t heard of him, Dembele is an exceptionally talented winger who made a name for himself earlier this year when he forced his way into Celtic’s Under-20 team at the delicate age of 13.

Despite playing against players up to seven years older, the young lad apparently didn’t look at all out of place at that level. He really does look like a remarkable talent.

But while the lad’s career at club levels seems to be on the right path, his international career is turning into a bit of a joke with an unseemly fight for his allegiance under way. Dembele was born in London and so qualifies for England but has lived in Glasgow since he was five, hence his ability to play for Scotland.

Maybe I am old-fashioned but shouldn’t international football be all about representing the country you feel you belong to? Playing a couple of games for England and a couple for Scotland and weighing up your options feels a bit mercenary to me.

Then again, it’s hard to know what sort of lobbying is going on behind the scenes. Mr and Mrs Dembele are probably being pushed and shoved in all different directions with the warring associations promising their son this, that and a considerable amount of the other.

Of course, whoever he plays for right now, Dembele’s allegiance will remain flexible until he plays a competitive game for one country or another.

How I would love it if, when push comes to shove, and having weighed up all his options, he sticks two fingers up at the lobbyists and picks his parent’s homeland… the Ivory Coast.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade