CARLOS TEVEZ HAS lost several kilos in weight and wants to prove himself to sceptical Chinese fans who have booed him and labelled him “very homesick boy”, his club Shanghai Shenhua said on Thursday.
The former Argentina international has endured a turbulent 10 months in China since arriving to a hero’s welcome from Boca Juniors, missing around half the matches this season injured or unavailable.
In September new Shenhua manager Wu Jingui called the 33-year-old, one of the highest-paid players in the world on a reported 730,000 euros a week, overweight and ordered him to shape up.
Tevez, known by his detractors in China as “very homesick boy” because of his previous behaviour in jetting back to Argentina in times of trouble, appears to have taken note and has been putting in extra training to lose the bulk.
And with the first leg of the FA Cup against rivals Shanghai SIPG two weeks away, the former Manchester United and Juventus forward has gone from 78 kilos (170 pounds) at the start of the year to 72 kilos now, a Shenhua spokesman said, confirming reports in Chinese media that Tevez wants to prove his doubters wrong.
Tevez played all 90 minutes of Sunday’s 5-1 home rout of Yanbian Funde, scoring just his fourth Chinese Super League (CSL) goal this season.
The season-ending FA Cup final takes place over two legs this month and Tevez has previously hinted that he would look to quit China when the season finishes.
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
Great commitment. Love when players or even people go above and beyond at work.
I’d say he lost the weight counting all that money.
The Chinese fans are ruthless with their slagging “they’ve nicknamed him homesick boy”.
@Damian McKeever: VERY homesick boy Mr McKeever!!! How’s tricks? If you’re looking for a nice pair of runners hear there’s a deadly place over in Bray, amphibian king I think it’s called!
What age is he, 32/33? He’s been there for one season and has made 32 million. Job done. Back to Europe or South America now and prove his class once again.
I took his wallet out of his pocket and instantly lost 7kg. What an athlete!
He