The Chinese Super League has certainly ruffled a few feathers recently, what with a host of well-known stars now choosing to head to China - and of course be rewarded handsomelyfor it - rather than remain in one of Europe's traditional 'big leagues'.
The age-old debate regarding how much value one should place on earnings - as opposed to earning less but gaining more in other areas -is as prevalent today as it ever was; and while quite a few big names have taken the plunge recently and chosen the so-called easy money, it's the sale of Oscar from Chelsea to Shangai SIPG that has truly caught the football world's attention.
Here is a player struggling to get into the Chelsea side, but, at only 25, still has plenty of football left in him.
Perhaps he'll return to Europe one day. The only thing we know for sure is that he'll be earning around£20m ayear in his new home (making him the third highest paid player in the world), andwhile some have understood him for taking an offer that would have been pretty darn hard to refuse, others feels it's a sad sign of the times that a very decent footballer has chosen what might be regarded as the 'easy' option.
With all that in mind, never one to mince his words, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino (in quotes seen in theMetro, but illuminated upon further in the video below) has had his say on the matter, and it's fair to report he doesn't agree with Oscar's decision:
''For me football is not only money, I thinkit's to be competitive, to compete in, for me, the Premier League is the most important league in the world.For me, to enjoy football and to compete...that is not my choice only because of money. It's because it's my passion.
Pochettino continues.
''I need to feel the passion. I need to feel the competition. To compete with the best in the world...it means a lot. More than money.''
Such talk will be music to the ears of Spurs fans everywhere; as for Oscar's views on the matter, we will have to wait and see. Either way, the Chinese Super League looks like it's here to stay, and what might now appear to be an exception, might soon become the rule.