As we saw when Demba Ba moved to China, Shanghai Shenhua’s fans are some of the most enthusiastic in the world.
The Senegalese striker was given a hero’s welcome when he moved to the Chinese Super League club from Beşiktaş, and we mean a hero’s welcome.
Ba has been out of action since July, when he suffered a horrible leg break, and the Senegal striker will do well to return to the heights that saw him produce 14 goals in 18 games last season.
But Shenhua have a new former Premier League striker in town, with former West Ham, Manchester United and Manchester City frontman Carlos Tevez joining on an absolutely huge contract.
And to say the fans were excited to see Tevez would be an understatement, as this video shows.
Here's the moment all hell breaks lose as Tevez emerges at Pudong airport, Shenhua fans live up to reputation for crazed and rowdy support pic.twitter.com/KGFKCxm25f
— Cameron Wilson 韦侃仑 (@CameronWEF) January 19, 2017
You can hear fans cheering ‘Carlos’ as the Argentine is ushered through the swarms of fans, barely able to move.
And he’s not the only new recruit to the Chinese Super League to have been greeted by a horde of supporters.
Oscar has moved to the same city as Tevez, joining André Villas-Boas’ Shanghai SIPG, and – while the reception was not quite at Tevez levels – he already has a fair few locals excited to see him in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecRoT0IIrgQ
Both Shanghai clubs will be in action in the play-off round for the AFC Champions League in early February, with fellow CSL clubs Guangzhou Evergrande and Jiangsu Suning entering the competition at the group stage.
Catch up with this week’s episode of Football Friday Live:
