Former Nigeria forward, Brown Ideye, on Wednesday, revealed his wife’s reaction after she saw his proposed salary and bonuses when the Chinese Super League team, Tianjin TEDA, wanted to sign him.
He said though he had not planned to ply his trade in China, the monetary compensation that came with the TEDA’s deal changed the story.
In a post on his X.com account, the AFCON 2013 winner said after he told his wife the numbers, she immediately packed his bags and prepared him for travelling the next day.
The 36-year-old wrote, “I had no plans to go to China, Olympiacos received an offer from TEDA which they can’t refuse, my agent negotiated with TEDA about my salary and bonuses.
“When I saw the long numbers and told my wife, na she pack my luggage for me to leave the next day LOL…”
Ideye had in an interview with The PUNCH in 2019 admitted that he saw hell in China after the move.
“I was ordered to train with the youth team despite not going against any laid down rules. I don’t pray for any footballer to go through all that I experienced this past one year in China. Thank God I’m back in the game and psychologically I have put that behind me. I need to pick up well from where I stopped and focus on my new club and hopefully do better.
“It wasn’t easy but I had to keep my body in good shape and stay strong mentally. It was not what I wanted, the club (Tianjin TEDA) chose that path and I had to respect the tough call they made”.
He also blamed injuries and inability to adapt to the culture for his subpar performances at EPL side West Bromwich Albion and Tianjin Teda.
After his impressive performance at Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv, where he scored 45 goals in 106 games, Ideye joined West Brom for a club-record fee £10m in 2014 but failed to live up to the billing, scoring just seven goals in 37 appearances for the Baggies.
After he failed to impress in England, Ideye’s poor form continued when he joined Chinese side Tianjin Teda from Greek giants Olympiacos.
“The issue I had in China was that there is this rule that every six months, they had to reshuffle the team and at the time I got to China, it was really difficult for me; the language, the players, not having good food.”
“It took me time to really adjust to the Chinese league, and with all the expectations from the fans and the team. The management felt I wasn’t good enough or that I couldn’t meet the expectations placed on me, they ended up signing a new player in my position and they asked me to go on loan.”
But Ideye’s flashback on his contract that led to his stint in Tianjin TEDA on Wednesday might not be unconnected to the current situation surrounding Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen’s future.
