Premier League duo Everton and Southampton were reportedly offering £12m for St Etienne’s Ligue 1 midfielder Selnaes.
Ole Selnaes might just have shot himself in the foot.
The 24-year-old midfielder is playing the best football of his career over in France with St Etienne. A tough-tackling box-to-box enforcer, Selnaes has been one of Ligue 1’s form players in the last 12 months and has produced five assists this season, firing Les Verts into contention for the Champions League.
So this might have been the perfect chance for Selnaes to prove himself in the Premier League. According to TEAMtalk, both Everton and Southampton were willing to pay £12 million for the Norway international. Everton, who are trying to adopt a more proactive style under Marco Silva, could have been a perfect fit, even with Idrissa Gana Gueye staying at Goodison Park.
But the former Rosenborg ace has turned down a move to Europe’s most high-profile and competitive division. And it seems that he is angling for a big-money move to China instead with the transfer window still open in the Far East.
According to L’Equipe, Selnaes has a lucrative contract offer worth £9 million a year on the table from Shenzhen FC.
And while wages like this would make anyone’s head spin, he only has to look at talents like Oscar, Axel Witsel and Anthony Modeste to remind himself that moving to China does little for your reputation. On most occasions, players will simply fall off the map.
It is fair enough making the switch at the end of your career. But surely playing low-quality football on the other side of the world is the last thing the rising star needs.
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