Chelsea midfielder Oscar has confirmed he's all but certain to leave the club in the January transfer window. The 25-year-old has been on the fringes of the first team for a while now and has been linked with moves abroad – especially with a massive £60 million move to China.
Having signed from Internacional for £26.8 million back in 2012, the Brazilian was tipped to achieve greatness at the West London club but after the arrival of Antonio Conte, sees his use for the club come to an end.
There were rumours linking Oscar to Juventus, AC Milan, a few Bundesliga clubs and more but he looks certain to be heading to China to reunite with former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas in the January transfer window.
When asked about his potential exit from the club, Oscar said, "It's 90 percent certain. It just depends on a few bureaucratic details."
Villas-Boas is the current manager of Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League and is willing to break the Asian transfer record to sign the Brazilian international for his club. With the quotes prize for the Brazilian said to be around £60 million, Oscar will be the second Chelsea player to join the lucrative Chinese Super League after Ramirez moved there while the club were under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho.
Antonio Conte is more than happy to see Oscar leave given the Brazilian isn't the kind of player who fits into his system. With the likes of Nemanja Matic, N’Golo Kante and Cesc Fabregas ahead in the pecking order, the Brazilian wasn't going to see much of game time.
And Chelsea, too, will be delighted with the kind of money they're making on the 25-year-old given they've been linked with a host of other midfielders from all over Europe. Conte is said to want another midfielder capable of playing a plethora of roles.
AS Roma's Radja Nainggolan, Inter Milan's Geoffrey Kondogbia and Bayern Munich's Arturo Vidal are just some of the names being thrown around in the rumour mill. Chelsea are currently on top of the Premier League table three points ahead of second-placed Arsenal and with a game in hand.
They take on Southampton later tonight as they travel to St Mary's to ensure they stay ahead of their title rivals. Antonio Conte's side are yet to lose a game after losing 3-0 to Arsenal in the Premier League.
