Highlights

• Tevez's stint in the Chinese Super League was a failure, with only 4 goals in 20 appearances for Shanghai Shenhua.
• He struggled to settle in China, feeling homesick and unhappy with the local cuisine, which affected his performance and weight.
• Tevez further worsened his situation by criticizing the quality of Chinese players and being caught at Disneyland during a match, earning him the nickname "Homesick Boy" from the fans.

For a short period of time, Carlos Tevez was the highest-paid footballer in the world. In December 2016, the former Manchester United and Manchester City striker left boyhood club Boca Juniors to join Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shenhua.

At that time, the big names who moved to the Far East pocketed serious sums of money and Tevez earned an extraordinary £615,000-a-week. Obviously, that's obscene money - especially when you consider that Shanghai Shenhua's reward for putting millions in the Argentine's bank account was a measly four goals in just 20 appearances.

The numbers only tell half the story, though. That's because Tevez's spell as the world's highest-paid footballer was absolutely wild, as the Daily Mail reported when Gareth Bale was being linked with a mega-money to China of his own in the summer of 2019.

Tevez's stint in China was destined to fail

He never really connected with the club

So, to start things off, Tevez was homesick from the moment he touched down in the Far East. He famously told reporters: ''When I landed in China, I realised that I wanted to go back to Boca (Juniors). I was on vacation for seven months.'' Yeah, not the greatest of beginnings at a football club. Despite bringing an entourage of 20 people with him to China, Tevez never came close to settling either on or off the pitch and the food available really bothered him as well.

As mentioned, in just 20 appearances for the club, he only managed to find the net on four occasions and provided five assists. After revealing to reporters that he saw himself on vacation for seven months, there's no wonder why he appeared reluctant to show any attempts to impress the club's fans.

Tevez's issues with Chinese food

The Argentinian was not a big fan of the local cuisine...

Gus Poyet, who was his first manager in Shanghai, told LA Nacion via The Sun that while the language is complicated, people suffered a lot more with the food, saying: ''The language is complicated but with the food, there are people who suffer a little more and that happened to Tevez. At the beginning, he did not eat almost anything. We had a barbecue, and we had to remove the Chinese food.''

Tevez's dislike of Chinese cuisine meant his diet suffered, and he was subsequently overweight when Poyet resigned in 2017 due to poor performances. The Uruguayan coach was replaced as manager by Wu Jingui. Needless to say, the new boss wasn't happy with the forward.

Tevez was dropped for being overweight

As if things couldn't get any worse

Do not adjust your screen, the world's highest-paid footballer really was dropped for being in poor physical condition - pretty mad, right? In September 2017, Tevez had just come back from an injury and was subjected to jeers from Shenhua supporters in his first match back — a 2-1 home loss at the hands of Henan Jianye. Following their clash, manager Wu Jingui had some brutal words to say about the Argentinian, per Goal: ''I won't pick him right now. He's not ready physically. He's not fit to play.

''He is overweight, along with [Fredy] Guarin. I have to take responsibility for the team and the players as well. If you are unable do your utmost to play, there's no point in picking you. I have coached lots of big stars, and my players are never picked on reputation.''

Soon after Wu's comments about the forward, club chairman Wu Xiaohui acknowledged big-money striker Tevez as a flop, revealing the Argentine star "didn't meet our expectations'' and saying to Shanghai Shenhua TV via Goal:

"Our intention was to bring in an influential star player with high quality, and we all think Tevez could fit the bill. However, due to a lack of winter training and match fitness, he didn't meet our expectations."

Xiaohui was then quick to defend the club's hierarchy, saying the executives wouldn't hesitate to step down if they felt the organisation were better off without them.

"Of course I understand results are most important in competitive sports," Xiaohui said. "I heard what everybody said about the club hierarchy. They can rest assured that, as the chairman, I will take full responsibility if we indeed make mistakes or don't do good enough.

"And I'd like to say, for the record, that if anybody can do a better job than us, we would vacate our offices at any time. We have no problem with that. We would quit as long as it is in the best interest of Shenhua. We are not driven by self-interest — not in the slightest."

Tevez criticised Chinese players

He should've kept his mouth shut...

When going to a new club, the last thing you want to do is get off on the wrong foot. Despite failing to live up to expectations, Tevez still found time to heavily criticise the standard of football in China, though, which only made matters worse for his stint in Asia. The former Manchester United and City forward revealed that the Chinese players were not as ''naturally skilled'' like European players, saying.

“Chinese players are not as naturally skilled like South American or European players.

“Like players who learned football when they were kids. They’re not good. Even in 50 years, they still won’t be able to compete.”

While it was blatantly obvious that a lot of these top European footballers were after a big payday in China, the last thing you should be doing is criticising the local talent who have worked their way up the ranks in a bid to become a regular starter for their respective teams. Needless to say, Tevez couldn't have been popular in the dressing room.

Tevez's trip to Disneyland

Shanghai Shenhua didn't seem to miss him at all

Oh, and during his time at Shanghai Shenhua, Tevez was pictured at Disneyland with his family while the team were playing a match. When there is so much pressure on a player to perform and your displays have been woeful, the last thing you want to be doing is taking a trip to a world-famous theme park. The striker, who was also no stranger to controversy during his time in the Premier League, was supposedly 'injured'.

However, the former Argentina forward was quick to justify his decision to take a trip to Disneyland, claiming that it was his 'day off' and that he decided to head to the popular theme park with his family after training:

"I heard about reports of [criticism of] my visit to Disneyland with my family.

"It was my day off. I went to Disneyland after training. I am just a normal person, and it is normal to have quality time with my family.

"I train with a serious attitude, and when I am having time off I hope to be respected as well. I hope [the media reporting on my private life] won't happen again."

Shanghai Shenhua's would go on to win the game against Changchun Yatai 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Giovani Moreno; however, Tevez's antics stole the headlines on that particular day. So, is there anything else from Tevez's adventures out in China while earning more money per week than most will earn in a lifetime? Well, he was also nicknamed 'Homesick Boy' by the Shanghai Shenhua fans, which really is an appropriate conclusion to the story.

Tevez, who ended up being paid just over £8 million per goal, would go on to leave the club in 2018 after a dismal spell in China. After previously revealing his intentions to go back to Boca Juniors, he would eventually get the chance to move back to his boyhood club that year, spending three years in Argentina before eventually retiring from the sport in 2022.