Anelka completes Chinese swap

Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua have completing the signing of Chelsea’s French striker Nicolas Anelka on a two-year deal.

Shenhua, who have been in discussions with Anelka for the past week, confirmed on their website on Monday that the 32-year-old has agreed to join them from January 2012.

The Chinese club opted not to provide the financial details of the contract in the statement, although it had been reported it was worth approximately 200,000 pounds per week.

However, Shenhua spokesperson Ma Yue denied the rumours, telling AFP: “I cannot confirm his salary at the moment. I can just say the final amount could be different from 200,000 pounds.”

Speaking on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Shenhua skipper Yu Tao said: “It’s impossible not to be excited by this – a warm welcome to our new team-mate!”

Anelka, who was also chased by English Championship outfit West Ham and MLS club Montreal Impact, joins Shanghai after falling down the pecking order at Chelsea under Andre Villas-Boas.

The French striker was due to come out of contract at Stamford Bridge at the end of the current season and had handed in a transfer request earlier this month.

Shenhua, who are owned by the enigmatic Zhu Jun, finished the 2011 CSL in 11th and have not won the Chinese title since 2003.

The Shanghai outfit have also been in discussions with former Fulham and Bordeaux boss Jean Tigana about taking over as the club’s new coach.