Nicolas Anelka packs his bags for lucrative move to Chinese Super League

Chelsea's veteran striker Nicolas Anelka's move to the Chinese Super League has been confirmed. Don't feel too sorry for him, however - he'll be earning around £200,000 per week.

The French star, who was famously kicked out of last summer's World Cup for insulting then-manager Raymond Domenech, had a recent transfer request accepted by the London club and now looks set to move in the January transfer window.

Though the 32-year-old had become a periphery figure at Chelsea, it was thought that he would continue playing in Premier League, with Spurs reportedly interested in his services. However, Anelka will instead leave for the emerging Chinese Super League, more specifically the side Shanghai Shenhua.

"We have basically agreed on the details of the contract, but there are small details that we still need to confirm tonight," the club's spokesman Ma Yue told French news agency AFP today.

According to ESPN, Anelka's two-year deal involves a huge wage increase, with the player set to earn the equivalent of £200,000 per week, more than double his previous Chelsea wage of £90,000 per week.

In a country in which the average monthly wage for urban dwellers is 1,592 yuan, Anelka will now earn eight million yuan. Isn't football great?

The move is the second of two enormous transfers for the Chinese league this year, with former Fluminese player Dario Conca becoming the third-highest player in the world this summer after joining Guangzhou Evergrande.

That's right, a guy you've never heard of called Dario Conca is the only football player that earns less than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.