Hebei China Fortune winger Ezequiel Lavezzi recently disclosed that he turned down offers to play for English Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea, and also another one from Serie A club Inter Milan, to join the Chinese Super League.

The 30-year-old Argentina international had also admitted that the main reasons he chose to move to China is to "develop this club (Hebei China)" and "the financial aspect" as well.

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Lavezzi is just one of several big-name footballers who migrated to the Far East nation during this China winter transfer window, which also includes Colombian Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid and Brazilians Ramires and Alex Teixeira from Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively.

"I could have signed for Inter, Chelsea or Manchester United," said Lavezzi, as reported by Sports Mole. "But I made the decision to go to China. It's an important choice for my career, I'm sure I'll face many challenges here."

"I like the project to develop this club. It was that which convinced me to come to Hebei, as well as the financial aspect. I'm also fascinated by Chinese culture, so to come and play here is definitely an interesting challenge," he added.

Reports have said that Lavezzi, who had been with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain for the last three-and-a-half seasons, is set to earn £11.7 million per year with the newly-promoted China top flight squad.

The Independent noted that the reason why PSG let go of the Argentinian during the winter is his rumored falling out with head coach Laurent Blanc. Teams from England and Italy called, but it was Hebei China's undisclosed offer that won the approval of Les Parisiens officials.

Lavezzi joined former Arsenal and Roma forward Gervinho, former Chelsea and Sevilla winger Gaël Kakuta, Cameroon international Stéphane Mbia, and Turkish star Ersan Gülüm as the five foreign players of the Samba Kings this season.

TagsFootball Transfer News, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Hebei China Fortune, Chinese Super League, Manchester United, Chelsea FC