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There are no doubts that Nicolas Anelka, the well-known France striker, is a very good football player. But 10 million euroes a year? A lot of people would think that those people at Shenhua Club were crazy. Well, maybe they are not! The Anelka deal is already paying off, even before he actually arrives!
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A France TV company has just made a deal with Shanghai Shenhua club. They will pay 350 thousand euroes for the sole broadcasting rights of the day when Anelka arrives in Shanghai two weeks later. Yes, you read it right. It was not something like the first game of Anelka in Shanghai, but rather the day when he gets off the plane and sets foot in Shanghai, which I guess is all novelty and mystery to most French.
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Some France TV company also proposed a deal of 600 thousand euroes for the sole broadcasting rights of the first two games of Shenhua in the next season. But this was a little complicated, because it was not all Shenhua club's say whether they can sell it. Some "bureaus" are involved.
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So it seems although Shenhua club will pay a large amount of salary to its players in the next season, they will probably also make an income they could never have imagined in the last years. The question is: Will they meet the expectations of the fans, which will surely be much higher due to the coming of Anelka, in the coming season? What's more, they are also currently involved in a bribery scandal that happened in 2003. The worst that could happen, although not quite likely, is being relegated to the second tier league. This also puts some doubts over Shenhua's future.
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