Ex-Liverpool midfielder swaps Qatar for China – his 3rd transfer in 15 months

Part of Jurgen Klopp‘s first-ever Liverpool squad and a regular throughout 2015/16, midfielder Joao Carlos Teixeira is now plying his trade in China.

Teixeira had made one appearance for Liverpool prior to Klopp’s appointment in 2015, but went on to play seven times in the German’s first campaign at Anfield.

In total, he was in the matchday squad on 17 occasions, including a place on the bench for the manager’s first game against Tottenham and five starts in the cups.

He left for Porto in 2016, though, and has experienced a nomadic career since, with time in his native Portugal as well as the Netherlands, Qatar and now China.

This week, Teixeira has signed a deal with Shanghai Shenhua that will tie him to the Chinese Super League club until December 2024.

It is his third transfer in the last 15 months and his fourth club in two years, having left Feyenoord for Famalicao last January before joining Qatari side Umm Salal in June.

Teixeira is one of few foreign players in the Shanghai Shenhua squad ahead of the new season – which begins later this month – but the club were once at the forefront of a major influx of international talent in China.

Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Tim Cahill, Fredy Guarin, Demba Ba and Obafemi Martins have all played for the club, while more recent acquisitions include Stephan El Shaarawy and Odion Ighalo.

Carlos Tevez was reported to have earned a world-record salary upon his move to Shanghai Shenhua from Boca Juniors in 2016, and returning to Argentina after just 20 appearances he declared his time in China a “vacation.”

Teixeira will be hoping for a more productive experience on the pitch in Shanghai, of course, though successive moves to Qatar and China, at 30, suggest that his earnings could be a focus.

In 2016, Liverpool saw a move for namesake Alex Teixeira fail as the Brazilian winger instead joined Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth £38 million, with his salary £185,000 a week after tax.

At the time, Klopp said: “If you are 26 and you get an offer like he got – everybody would think about it!

“There are a few problems less for the next generation of Teixeiras. That’s good news for the whole family.”

Shanghai Shenhua finished 10th in last season’s Chinese Super League, and play at the 72,000-capacity Shanghai Stadium.