China offer was very difficult to reject – Ideye

Nigeria international Brown Ideye disclosed that he was tempted by offers he received in January and could not resist joining Chinese Super League side, Tianjin Teda.

Ideye who was the leading topscorer in the Greek Super League before his departure conceded that it was not the ‘right time’ for him to leave the Karaiskakis Stadium but the enticing offer could not be rejected at the same time.

The 31-year-old forward who has found the back of the net once in eight league games for the Jaime Pacheco’s side, stated that the Chinese topflight league is more difficult than what he expected while acknowledging the hospitality he received from the Chinese people.

“The age that I am now I guess I should be thinking about my life after football, so I go with the offer just to be happy,” Ideye told BBC World Service .

“I know it’s not the right time for me to leave Olympiacos but it’s difficult to reject – very difficult.

“The league [Chinese Super League] is really, really tough.

“The way I saw it before coming it was just like ‘You are playing with a bunch of kids, you are playing with a bunch of adults that don’t really know about the game’.

“These guys they know about the game, the Chinese players, they play football, they understand the game. It’s really tough, it’s really, really tough.

“The atmosphere inside the stadiums is unbelievable. It’s filled up with supporters, it’s filled up with crazy fans who always come out to cheer their team. I never thought it would be this way.

“They did everything, every foreign player has a translator, they assign a translator to you who will follow you to anywhere you go.

“They have really been a great help since I have been here – to all the foreign players.”