Dario Conca is the 8th highest paid player on planet football, but who exactly is he? Simon Bunn will inform you.
When perusing the list of ‘Ten best paid players in the world’ below, most peoples brains will automatically stop at number 8. Small electrical impulses will flow through your body, causing your facial muscles to contort with confusion. ‘Who the hell is D.Conca?’ you will no doubt verbalise.
The top 10 best paid players in the world
1 S Eto’o (Anzhi) £15.91m
2 Z Ibrahimovic (PSG) £11.54m
3 W Rooney (Man Utd) £10.98m
4 Y Toure (ManCity) £10.34m
5 S Aguero (ManCity) £9.95m
6 D Drogba (Shanghai) £9.55m
7 F Torres (Chelsea) £8.6m
8 D Conca (Guangzhou) £8.4m
9 L Messi (Barcelona) £8.35m
10 C Ronaldo (R Madrid) £7.98m
Put simply Dario Leonardo Conca is the superstar of Chinese football. Born in Argentina, the attacking midfielder started his career with Tigre. His talent shone early, allowing him to make his debut, in the Argentinean 2nd division, at the barely pubic age of 15. It took him five years before he experienced top flight football with River Plate. The majority of his time there was spent being sent out on loan to various South American clubs.
His loan performances were enough to earn him a permanent move to Brazilian side Fluminense. It was here that the tiny Argentinean really began making a name for himself. Conca won the Brasileiro championship with Fluminense, and was named player of the tournament for two successive years. Uruguayan newspaper ‘El Pais’ voted him the best player in Brazilian football, whereas the Brazilian press christened him with the nickname ‘El Crack Ignorado,’ or ‘the forgotten superstar.’
On 2 July 2011, Guangzhou Evergrande brought Conca to the Chinese Super League. At the time it was for a domestic record fee of $10 million. During his career there he has been instrumental in helping the club win their first ever league title, and also the Chinese FA Super Cup the following year. Conca also impressed during the Asian version of the Champions league.
But his time at the club hasn’t been without controversy. In a game where he had scored a penalty to go 1-0 up, manager Lee Jang-Soo substituted Conca, a tactic that backfired as his team went on to lose 3-1. Conca attacked his manager on network site Weibo saying, ‘I don’t understand why they always sideline me with the excuse that I’m exhausted and need rest. How could I scored a crucial penalty if I’m not in condition? And why do the coach always have Conca take a rest?’
As a result of his remarks Conca received a ban of 9 matches and was fined ¥1 million. On 17th May, this year, Marcello Lippi was appointed as new manager. His first action at the club was to lift Conca’s ban.
To date Conca has netted 19 goals in 37 appearances for Guangzhou. His achievements so far pale in comparison to what Messi and Ronaldo are doing, in a far more competitive league. Yet if the Chinese want to pay Conca £8.4m a year then that’s their problem. It just goes to show ‘it’s not what you know it’s who you know.’
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