Allardyce rejected big-money China offer

Sam Allardyce has revealed he rejected a big-money approach to manage in the Chinese Super League prior to taking over at Crystal Palace.

China’s top flight is making a huge splash in the transfer market, with Oscar set to join Shanghai SIPG from Chelsea in a £60million move, while Carlos Tevez has reportedly become the world’s highest-paid player by signing for Shanghai Shenhua from Boca Juniors.

Those signings add to the likes of Hulk, Jackson Martinez and Alex Teixeira, all of whom are playing in China after making high-profile moves.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, were said to have received a €300m bid from an unnamed Chinese club for Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portugal international’s agent Jorge Mendes claimed they were prepared to pay the forward a €100m annual salary. 

Allardyce says he also received a Chinese offer when his stint in charge of England ended after just one match due to a newspaper scandal, but rejected the approach in favour of remaining in the Premier League.

He said: “Did I have an offer? Yes. I didn’t go. I could have gone but I preferred to stay here.

“It’s difficult for a player or a club to turn that down, it’s just the way of the world and changing forces in the football world.

“China has decided it wants to be a force and has decided the way to do it is to buy the best players and pay over the odds. Time will tell if it’s the right thing to do.

“Money talks. But if we lose the top, top players from the Premier League then absolutely [it will suffer].

“We didn’t want to lose Gareth Bale, or Ronaldo. But it’s a small world today in football terms and players will pick up their boots and travel.

“What we have to do is encourage the growth of our younger players and produce better talent.”