Football
ESPN staff 7y

Carlos Tevez will be under pressure for Shanghai debut - Gus Poyet

Shanghai Shenhua coach Gustavo Poyet said that the club will officially present striker Carlos Tevez to fans on Saturday as the club prepare for a key Asian Champions League group-phase qualifier on Feb. 8.

Tevez, 32, joined Shangai on a two-year contract from Boca Juniors for a fee of £9 million, and while it was initially said he would be paid world-high wages of £615,000 a week to make the move, reports in China say it will be significantly less.

Tevez was mobbed by hundreds of fans upon his arrival in China and Poyet said the two had dinner and spoke.

"I just saw him and he is doing great, you can see that he is very happy," Poyet told La Once Diez radio in Buenos Aires. "He is going to have an interesting debut. We have everything ready for his official presentation. You saw how he was received, it was spectacular and amazing.

"Now we are focusing on helping him adapt to the team so he can give us what he has been able to give all his previous clubs. The other players will benefit, not just our fans."

The former West Ham United, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus striker will link up with Poyet's side, which also features Fredy Guarin, Obafemi Martins and Demba Ba, ahead of the upcoming Chinese Super League season.

"After his official presentation he will meet his teammates because he has not met them yet," Poyet said. "We are expecting thousands of fans to turn out. We had to change the training session because we wanted to open it up for the fans. We are going to do something special so that all the fans can enjoy his arrival."

Poyet said that Tevez will be under pressure "the way he likes it" for his Feb. 8 debut because the match decides whether Shanghai continue in the Champions League.

"If we advance to the group stage we would face the same team that played in the Club World Cup final against Real Madrid last month," Poyet said. 

The veteran coach said he was not worried about how Tevez would fit on the squad.

"He won't have any trouble communicating with them," he said about Gio Moreno and Guarin. "We will have to help him with everything. He is in a strange city but we all must adapt as well. In football, it will be easy but in everyday life we will face challenges because we are coming from a completely different world.

"When I saw him, he had the same expression on his face that he did when you saw the pictures of him arriving at the airport with all the fans around him. His main responsibility is to play football so we must help him with the rest.

"The game here is quick and involves constant attack. It is a lot of offense. The foreign players will have an exceptional participation and they will make the difference."

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