Conca set to return to China after Fluminense accepts proposal- reports

RIO DE JANEIRO - Fluminense's Dario Conca will go back to the Chinese Super League after the Brazilian club accepted the proposal from Chinese club Shanghai SIPG, Brazilian media reported on Thursday.

Dario Conca (L) of China's Guangzhou Evergrande challenges Fernandinho (R) of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro during their 2013 FIFA Club World Cup third place soccer match in Marrakech stadium December 21, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

According to the Brazilian news hub UOL, the Argentine midfielder will receive 56 million reals for a two-year contract with Shanghai SIPG, which just signed former England team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Conca, who came back to Fluminense in 2014 from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande, is said to be unhappy at Fluminense due to a delay in the payment of image-rights after investment group Unimed parted ways with the club in the end of 2014. The image-rights revenue takes up the majority of Conca's salary at Fluminense.

Although the final contract hasn't been signed between the two sides, Brazilian media believed that there is no hurdle in Conca's transfer after Fluminense accepted the proposal. Unimed, who also owns the economic rights of Conca, has already authorized the transfer.

Amid the financial crisis of Fluminense as a result of the withdrawal of Unimed, veteran Brazilian striker Fred, who also encountered the delay of image-rights payment, is also set to go to China, according to reports in Globo.

A Chinese club has made a proposal for Fred and he can leave the club in the coming days. But the name of the club hasn't been revealed. Fred had a lackluster performance at last year's World Cup in the number nine shirt for Brazil, but the 31-year-old earned the top scorer prize in the Brazilian league last year.

Conca traveled in a separate flight back to Brazil on Monday after Fluminense ended pre-season training in the United States. Conca was said to be informed the offer from China during his stay in the United States.

On Thursday's regular training at Fluminense, Conca didn't show up until the very last minute, while other players appeared on the field half an hour earlier before the scheduled time as usual.

Conca is well known in China after a successful two-and-a-half years spell with Guangzhou Evergrande that ended in December 2013.

He returned to his former club Fluminense last January and scored 16 goals from 59 matches across all competitions in 2014.

Recently, there are growing ranks of South Americans joining the Chinese Super League from the Brazilian league.

Last week, two Chinese teams announced major signings with Brasileirao's high-profile players. Brazil international midfielder Ricardo Goulart from Cruzeiro has signed a four-year deal with Guangzhou Evergrande, while Brazil striker Diego Tardelli from Atletico Mineiro signed with Shandong Luneng.