Brazilian midfielder Oscar has admitted that he would like to return to the Premier League in a few years’ time – preferably with former club Chelsea.
The 26-year-old left the Blues for Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG in January for a reported fee of £60m.
Speaking to premierleaguebrasil.com, Oscar hopes to make an England comeback someday with the Blues being his favourable destination, he said: “Yes, I would go back. I’m still young, I’m 26 years old. Who knows, in two or three years to return to the Premier League. I will be very happy. And preferably to Chelsea, who opened the doors for me to return.”
Oscar was hugely loved by the Blues fans during his time at Stamford Bridge, but he admits that Antonio Conte’s change to the 3-4-3 formation paved the way for his exit. Despite this, the midfielder holds the Italian coach in high regard and backs the 48-year-old to guide the Blues to a second consecutive Premier League title.
He added: “I think United, City and Chelsea will fight to the end. City and United are there for the game they are playing and the goals they are scoring, but Chelsea are a very strong team. Conte sets up a team to play as a team, which is very good. It’s very difficult to score goals against Conte’s teams, so I think Chelsea will come and fight until the end.”
Oscar has had his own problems with discipline in the Chinese Super League, but he has still managed to become a decent hit with SIPG helping himself to eight assists and one goal in just 17 games. Paulinho made a surprise move from Guangzhou Evergrande to Barcelona earlier in the summer and this will provide some motivation to Oscar, who still hopes to return to the English top-tier.
Chelsea have not quite replaced Oscar since his exit last season, and this has been one of the frustrations for Antonio Conte, who saw limited transfer activity in the forward department last summer. Alvaro Morata arrived for a club-record fee from Real Madrid during the transfer window, but the Spaniard was brought in as a direct replacement to Diego Costa.