The Argentinian striker touched down in the country’s capital on Thursday for the start of his stint with Shanghai Shenhua, where he’ll reportedly take home £615,000 a week – a record salary for a footballer.
Hundreds of fans turned up to greet him after his switch from hometown club Boca Juniors. Many wore the colours of the Argentina national team, which the 32-year-old last represented in October 2015.
Tevez will work under manager Gus Poyet in Hongkou District, and will count Fredy Guarin and Obafemi Martins among his teammates.
The crowd chanted “Carlos! Carlos!” as he made his way through the airport terminal, according to BBC Sport.
The former Boca Juniors, West Ham United, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Juventus man is set to begin the Chinese Super League season in March.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL made a major change in 2017 by moving the Pro Bowl to Orlando, something commissioner Roger Goodell sees as very positive, though he isn’t ready to make the city the Pro Bowl’s permanent home. Orlando is under contract to host the event next year with a third-year option for 2019.
“We go one year at a time,” Goodell said to ESPN just prior to kickoff. “This is new for us, and we’re still not done. We have a few more hours to go. As I just said to the [Orlando] mayor [Buddy Dyer], ‘We’re really excited, the way the fans have reacted favorably and the community has really embraced it. This is a special night for us.”
The Pro Bowl format changed this year too, returning to the NFC-AFC matchup. It incorporated a new mantra: celebrating football at all levels in a weeklong event held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. It included the Punt, Pass and Kick National Championship, NFL Flag Championship, the North American Championship featuring high school players from USA Football and Football Canada, and the USA Football’s Women’s World Football.
The event featured the annual USA Football national conference and the Women’s Careers in Football Forum. There was also the Pro Bowl Experience put on for fans, the EA Madden Bowl and the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge.
“We want to celebrate the game,” Goodell said. “We love seeing the kids play the game. We love to see the high school coaches here. We had a women’s football team here. It’s all about the great game that we have, and we’re able to celebrate it.”
As far as the on-field product that has come under scrutiny in recent years, Goodell said it’s important to understand what the game is and isn’t — the league must keep players safe and still make it entertaining. The key to that? Having fun, he said.
“This is a different kind of a game,” Goodell said. “This isn’t a Super Bowl or a championship game. We recognize that. It’s gotta be something that reflects positively on our end. The thing that really struck me about the skills challenge was how much fun the players had. They were really enjoying it. And that’s what I said to them tonight, ‘Have fun. Enjoy it.'”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang says he’ll “100 percent” stay at Borussia Dortmund beyond the current transfer window, but if his exit is engineered shortly after then, it wouldn’t necessarily be to Real Madrid – the outfit he’s dubbed his “dream club.”
“Yes, yes. That’s true but, you know, there is not only Real Madrid in this world,” he told football daily Bild, with translation from ESPN FC’s Stephan Uersfeld.
Aubameyang’s devastating pace and ferocious strike rate up top for Dortmund have unsurprisingly attracted a legion of admirers, with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain apparently eyeing the Gabon international, and, after four seasons at the Westfalenstadion, he could be open to offers.
“Nobody can foresee the future,” the 27-year-old said. “I love it at Dortmund, but I can’t say that I’ll stay for two more years, or five or 10. It’s possible that a club could reach an agreement with Dortmund in June and I’ll go.”
The 27-year-old has taken his goal-scoring form to the Africa Cup of Nations, scoring in each of Gabon’s group bouts on home soil so far, after already recording 16 strikes across 15 Bundesliga appearances this term.
Aubameyang responded to reports that Real Madrid’s manager, Zinedine Zidane, is seeking a different kind of player to him at the Santiago Bernabeu by supplementing his claims that he’s not clinging on hopes of moving to the Spanish capital.
“I don’t know if that’s true but, also, I am not interested in it,” he declared. “If Real want me, they will call me one day and, if not, no problem. I live my life and am optimistic about the future.”
He additionally played down any talk of him reuniting with his former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and, to the delight of a BVB support that has seen its squad continually gutted by Bayern Munich in recent seasons, a shift to Bavaria is completely out of the question.
“I would never join Bayern,” he said. “That’s for sure. That would be too hard on the Dortmund fans. Whatever they’d offer me, I’d say no.”
INDIANAPOLIS — New Colts general manager Chris Ballard arrives in Indianapolis with the type of knowledge in roster building that Colts owner Jim Irsay talked about last offseason.
Irsay, knowing the financial limitations the Colts were going to face after giving out new contracts to the likes of Andrew Luck, Dwayne Allen, Anthony Castonzo and T.Y. Hilton, said they were going to have to build their roster through the draft and develop those players.
Chris Ballard has been hired as the Colts’ new GM, replacing the fired Ryan Grigson. George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Ballard, who worked his way up through the scouting ranks in the NFL, spent the past four years with the Kansas City Chiefs. And during that same span, all three of their first-round picks — offensive lineman Eric Fisher, linebacker Dee Ford and cornerback Marcus Peters — have played significant roles with the franchise. The Chiefs didn’t have a first-round pick in 2016. They also selected Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce in the third round of the 2013 draft and Pro Bowl return specialist Tyreek Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.
Former Chicago director of college scouting Greg Gabriel worked with Ballard with the Bears and had high praise for the Colts’ new general manager.
When I came to Chicago in 2001, Chris Ballard was the first scout I hired. I’m so happy and proud that he is the Colts new GM. THE right guy
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) January 29, 2017
Within 3 years of hiring of Ballard I knew he was a future GM. “Got it” better than anyone I have ever been around. Unique talent
— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) January 29, 2017
“I am extremely excited about Chris coming on as our general manager,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said through the team’s Twitter account. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and a ton of experience to the organization. I’m looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and going to work alongside of him.”
One of former Colts general manager Ryan Grigson’s biggest downfalls was his inability to draft well. His best draft was his first one in 2012 that featured Luck, Allan and Hilton. But things started to go downhill for him after that. The Colts didn’t have players from their 2013 draft on their active roster this past season.
Grigson traded away their 2014 first-round pick for running back Trent Richardson, who turned out to be a bust. Grigson skipped over the likes of defensive lineman Malcolm Brown and safety Landon Collins in 2015 to select receiver Phillip Dorsett, who hasn’t lived up to expectations so far. The Colts cut their third-round pick from 2015, cornerback D’Joun Smith, last season.
The Colts have to get younger on a defense that finished 30th in the NFL and had five starters who were 30 years old or older last season.
Ballard is a first-time general manager, but he has the knowledge of what it takes to build a roster. Now the Colts hope Ballard will do the same with theirs.
