Saturday, 5th January, 2013
Former Paris Saint-Germain striker and later manager Jean-Michel Larque has slammed Guillaume Hoarau for his decision to snub the English Premier League to move to China.
Hoarau was allowed to leave PSG’s winter training camp in Qatar early to hold talks with four interested clubs – Chinese pair Dalian Aerbin and Shanghai Shenhua, and English Premier League duo Everton and Sunderland.
And Hoarau is heading to the Chinese Super League to join Dalian Aerbin in on a lucrative three-year contract.
Larque, who also works as a pundit for French TV, cannot understand how the striker, in his prime at 28 years old, could make such a decision, and has come down on him hard.
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"I was concerned that he would go to China, it’s done", Larque told French radio station RMC.
"Of course, I have nothing against Chinese football, but we cannot say that this is a sporting choice. I do not believe that. What a waste. He will be forgotten. I’ve never seen a single second of Chinese football."
And Larque specifically identified Everton, who wanted Hoarau, believing it is madness for a player to choose to go to China instead of Goodison Park.
"I am astounded by such a decision.
"I do not understand a footballer who at 28 years old could even hesitate between Everton and a Chinese club."
Hoarau had only six months remaining on his contract with PSG.
The Frenchman joined the Parc des Princes outfit in 2008 from Le Havre.
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