Argentine striker Carlos Tevez has arrived to a rousing welcome from hundreds of fans in Shanghai, where he will join local side Shenhua in a deal that reportedly makes him the world’s top-earning footballer. Tevez, 32, is the highest-profile foreign player lured to China’s free-spending domestic leagues in a recent gold rush that has triggered a backlash from Chinese authorities.
Police at Shanghai’s main international airport bundled the smiling Tevez through a crowd of blue-clad Shenhua fans gathered in the arrival hall to greet him. Shouting Shenhua team slogans as they waited, the fans burst into chants of “Carlos! Carlos!” when he emerged.