Roma's Ivorian forward Gervinho heads to China
Roma's Ivorian striker Gervinho has signed with China's Hebei Fortune, the team said Tuesday, the latest European-based star to be lured east by the increasingly wealthy Chinese Super League. "Gervinho has joined Hebei Fortune," the club said in a one-line statement on its verified Sina Weibo account, a Chinese version of Twitter. The announcement did not say how much the deal was worth. Gervinho has scored only six league goals for Roma this season and doubts over his future mounted when coach Rudi Garcia was sacked two weeks ago. Ahead of Roma's defeat on Sunday, club officials confirmed he had asked for a transfer. The player won a French league and cup double with Lille in 2011 before moving to Arsenal, where he scored just 11 goals in two years. Roma reportedly paid around eight million euros in 2013 to secure his services. Gervinho's move is the latest in a string of high-profile transfers involving foreign players and coaches in China, where the top league is increasingly flooded with cash. Last week Asian football champions Guangzhou Evergrande sold their Brazilian top scorer Elkeson to rivals Shanghai SIPG for as much as 20 million euros ($22 million), the official Xinhua news agency reported.
