In today's Chinese Super League (CSL), the presence of Oscar "The Little Golden Man" is an intriguing pattern, and the data from the 2023 season reveals an astonishing fact. Oscar is said to have been involved in a whopping 205 attacking plays that ended with a shot on goal in the Premier League that season, a figure that is at least 35 more than any other player (see chart below).
Looking deeper into this data table, we see that Wu Lei is ranked second, participating in 170 Shanghai Port's shooting attacks. This suggests that the Shanghai player duo of Oscar and Wu Lei contributed a whopping 375 shots on goal, what kind of status is that? It's like Oscar keeps delivering delicious cakes and Wu Lei keeps converting them into goals, no wonder Wu Lei is on top of the scorers list. The reason why Wu Lei is so powerful cannot be separated from Oscar's precise delivery. Without Oscar's passes, Wu Lei's performance would have been at least greatly reduced.
By the same token, the strength of Shanghai Hong Kong with Oscar and without Oscar is akin to that of a cloud. In the 2022 season, Oscar's inconsistent appearances led to SIPG's drop to fourth place in the league. Despite the lack of systematic preparation at the beginning of the season, Oscar's prolonged absence was undoubtedly the main reason. Last August, Wu Lei returned and represented SIPG in the Chinese Super League in September. However, without Oscar's precise feeding, Wu Lei did not contribute significantly to the improvement of SIPG's ranking despite his efforts. Season 2022 not only showed the outside world how important Oscar is to SIPG, but also made SIPG themselves realize this. This also explains why Oscar wanted to go back to Brazil to play, but Shanghai was adamant that they needed him - without Oscar, Wu Lei couldn't soar; without Oscar, Shanghai would have been missing the core of their midfield organization and brain. At the end of the 2023 season, Shanghai is once again faced with the decision of whether or not to keep Oscar. Fortunately, Oscar's statement in the interview let Shanghai breathe a sigh of relief. A report from Global Sports suggests that Oscar retains the possibility of returning to play in Brazil, but he will not choose to follow Shanghai. In particular, Oscar ended the interview by saying, "My plan is to finish the last year of my contract at Shanghai Harbor and then see what happens." Previously, many Shanghai Harbor fans were worried that Oscar would return to Brazil. Now that they have seen Oscar's answer, they can rest assured in advance that there is no need to worry about whether he will remain in the Chinese Super League in the 2024 season. Oscar's statement is good news for Shanghai Harbor - the 2024 season is full of hope! If Oscar stays in the team, it can guarantee Wu Lei's goal scoring rate and Shanghai Hong Kong's qualification to win the championship; if Oscar stays in the team, Shanghai Hong Kong will be more confident in the elite AFC Champions League. Of course, Oscar's willingness to stay at SIPG for the last contract year is not out of faith or public interest, but out of his own personal interest. After all, few are willing to give up a lucrative €20 million-plus income. Now, at a time when many Chinese Super League teams are facing wage arrears, Shanghai is still supporting this expensive foreign aid. I can only sigh - it's good to have money!
