Ex-Liverpool striker Robbie Keane has jokingly admitted that he would “walk” to China if he was offered the same salary as Diego Costa reportedly has.
Costa was left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad for their 3-0 win over Leicester City last weekend due to a bust-up with Antonio Conte regarding a potential £30 million-a-year move to China.
The Spaniard has become the latest target to join the Chinese Super League revolution following the recent arrivals of Oscar, John Obi Mikel and Carlos Tevez.
Costa was offered an incredible salary to move to Asia, which appears to have turned his head, and Keane has admitted that he’d love to be offered a similar wage.
“If they gave me the money Diego Costa was offered, I’d walk there now!” Keane told talkSPORT.
The Irishman then explained that he feels it is a difficult choice for Costa to make: whether or not to stay and win another league title or take an incredible amount of money.
“The Chinese league is nowhere close to the level of the Premier League, and Costa is scoring goals on a regular basis in the Premier League,” he added. “If he can do that here there’s no question he would score a bag full of goals over there. He just has to ask himself, ‘do I really want to leave this year?’
“He’s got a great chance of winning another league title with Chelsea, and every player wants to win, so does that mean he’ll just wait until the end of the year?
“Listen, it’s very hard for the player if you’re getting offered £400,000 a week. It’s absolutely ludicrous, so what does he do? You have to weigh it all up, you have to think about your family and see what the best is for them too.
“The money he’s getting offered is just crazy, he’s probably thinking he could go there for one year, make a lot of money, and come back to the Premier League or go somewhere else.”
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