Former Argentina striker Carlos Tevez described his spell with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua as a “vacation for seven months”. The former Manchester City and United striker, who joined the Chinese side in December 2016, returned to boyhood club Boca Juniors earlier this month.

The 33-year-old Tevez, who drew a staggering £650,000 a week in Shanghai, scored only four goals in 16 games for the club. He was criticised for being overweight and disinterested while in China. He even stated that the players in the league were technically poor and the country might take 50 years to catch up.

In September, new Shanghai coach Wu Jingui had said that Tevez would not not play for the team until he was fit. After being on an annual salary of £34 million, the striker decided he had made enough money and decided to return to his boyhood club.

In an interview with Argentine TV, Tevez said, “It’s fine because I was on vacation for seven months. When I landed in China, I wanted to return to Boca.”

Argentina legend Maradona said, “He filled Santa’s sack with dollars and now he has returned to Boca.”

This is Tevez’s third spell at Boca, having played for them from 2001 to 2004 and 2015 to 2016.