Neymar this, Neymar that. We get it. His return to Santos is a big deal for Brazilian football and the sport as a whole, but he’s not the only member of that generation to return home this year – Oscar is back at São Paulo.
By Alex Roberts
The attacking midfielder has had one of the weirdest journeys in professional football. Leaving his boyhood club back in 2010, having made 12 appearances but failing to score a goal, for Brazilian rivals Internacional.
Oscar impressed the powers that be at São Paulo as a youngster, but he only made a single start during his first spell at the club, which, unfortunately, turned out to be quite ill-fated.
It was the second leg in the first round of the Copa Sudamericana, and it was thoroughly unremarkable, expect for the fact it went to penalties. Both Oscar and Juninho (not that one) had their spot kicks saved by Vinicius (again, not that one) in the Athletico Paranaense goal, ultimately eliminating his side.
He left São Paulo under frustrating circumstances. His agent at the time claimed his contract was null and void after the club failed to pay him what he was supposedly owed. Internacional scooped him up as a free agent, but that wasn’t the end of it.
São Paulo continued to claim Oscar belonged to them, and launched several appeals, preventing him from playing for Internacional in some crucial Copa Libertadores games. An agreement was eventually reached in 2012, and São Paulo were awarded €6 million.

His first season was hampered by several injury issues, but his immense talent was obvious. Oscar ended his time there with 19 goals and five assists in 70 appearances across all competitions. A tally that caught the attention of Europe’s elite.
Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea were fresh off the back of winning the ‘Miracle in Munich’, their first ever Champions League title. Wanting to build from that, they made a point of trying to sign some of the world’s best young talent. They’d already signed Eden Hazard; Oscar was up next.
The Brazilian made his debut in Chelsea’s first Premier League game of the season, replacing Hazard in a 2-0 win over Wigan. He had little impact, but when he made his first start, he well and truly announced himself.
‘Twas a cold Champions League night at the Bridge as the West London club welcomed Juventus for their first game of the 2012-13 campaign. Oscar played alongside Hazard and Fernando Torres in a front three, but he didn’t need either of them.
Oscar opened the scoring in the 31st minute after his strike took a heavy deflection catching Gianluigi Buffon out, but it didn’t matter, because two minutes later, he would score Chelsea’s second-best goal since the turn of the millennium. Please Look up Didier Drogba’s vs Bolton if you want to see THE best.
Ashley Cole received the ball from Frank Lampard, he laid it off to Oscar who then turned Andrea Pirlo inside out before curling the ball into the top right corner. Of course, his hard work was undone when Juve scored twice to end the game 2-2.

That goal against Juve was the only real highlight of Oscar’s Chelsea career. He went on to win a Premier League, Europa League, and a League Cup, but as is so often the case at Chelsea, managerial changes and new tactical systems set him back.
Eventually, he was deemed surplus to requirements. He doubtless thought a number of European elites would come calling again, and maybe they did, but when push came to shove, the only real option he had was Shanghai SIPG, now known as Shanghai Port.
The Chinese Super League was Saudi Arabia before Saudi Arabia decided to launch their Premier League project. They lured a number of mostly aging stars to the league with promise of high wages and a project that ultimately never came to fruition. At just 25-years-old, Oscar’s move was by far the highest profile.
He would reportedly earn £400,000 a week in Shanghai. It’s the type of money that would set future generations up for centuries. We can discuss the morality of it all but is it worse than taking money from Roman Abramovich or some American venture capitalist?

Anyway, Oscar was a big fish in a small pond in China. When all the other superstars left, he remained, ending his time at Shanghai with three Super League titles, one Super Cup, one Cup, and a shed load of money.
China quite some distance from Brazil, and after eight years, Oscar was getting home sick. “I love Shanghai, but it’s just too far away from home for us,” he said. “We can’t stay here forever. My mum is getting older, my sisters are having babies. We want to be closer to home.”
Finally, on Christmas day 2024, his return to where it all began was confirmed, Oscar would be a São Paulo player once again. He’s a hell of a lot older, but also a hell of a lot wiser and he could be the guy to lead them to their first piece of major silverware since 2012.
Oscar made his second São Paulo debut in their game against rivals Corinthians, with fellow former wonderkid Lucas Moura on the opposite wing. Then, in the 56th minute, after 15 years away, he finally got his first goal for his boyhood club, helping them to a 3-1 win.
He may not have had the career many had expected, but that doesn’t matter. Oscar is back at São Paulo, and all feels right once again.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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