Chen Zhizhao becomes first Chinese player in Brazilian top flight amid accusations of marketing stunt
He was born in China's Guangdong province and speaks just a smattering of Portuguese, but by this time next year fans of one of Brazil's most famous football teams may well be calling him Chenzinho.
Chen Zhizhao, a 23-year-old midfielder, has become the first Chinese player to join a top-flight club in the land of the "beautiful game".
The unlikely announcement on Monday that Chen had signed for São Paulo team Corinthians on a two-year loan raised eyebrows in a country known for generation after generation of homegrown football talent.
In an interview with the Globo Esporte website, Flávio Pires, the agent behind Zhizhao's arrival, said he hoped more players would follow. "We want to bring more players from China and Japan to play in Brazilian football. We can't be prejudiced against these players since several European clubs now have players from these teams in their lineups," he said.
The idea of bringing a Chinese player to Corinthians surfaced earlier this year when marketing director Luis Paulo Rosenberg reportedly said his club planned to bring in "any old rubbish from China" in order to promote his club's brand in Asia.
Pires admitted Zhizhao was not expected to become the next Pelé. "He's not a player who is coming to play immediately [or] to fight for a place with Corinthians' top athletes," Pires said. "He has quality, was well-looked at by the club's football department but is coming to be part of the squad, not least because he will need time to adapt to our rhythm. We will all need to be patient with him. And, if it works out, it will be important to take the club's name to a country where over one billion people live."
Corinthians' latest recruit is another sign of the growing ties between Brasilia and Beijing.
Recent years have seen China overtake the US as Brazil's biggest trading partner, pumping billions of dollars into energy, mining and food projects across South America's largest nation.
"Relations with Brazil in all areas have entered a new era," Qiu Xiaoqi, China's ambassador in Brazil, told the state news agency Xinhua last year.
Footballers have also begun to travel the other way. In February, former Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro striker Obina became one of the first Brazilians to head for the Chinese Super League, signing for Jinan-based team Shandong Luneng Taishan.
"The food is tricky," the player, who needs two interpreters to communicate with his Croatian coach, said in a recent interview. "It is so spicy."