Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande's striker Dario Conca has made a formal transfer request to the club, the Chinese champions confirmed on Thursday.
"Conca talked to us yesterday and he proposed a transfer request," club president Liu Yongzhuo said. "It's really shocking to us. We will try our best to make him stay."
Since Italian coach Marcello Lippi took over the team in May, Conca has been frequently substituted earlier in matches, which made the Argentine unhappy.
"I am not happy, something happened here makes me feel sick," Conca was quoted by an Argentinian newspaper as saying.
The Argentine state news service TELAM also reported Conca was eager to leave the Chinese club for his former club Fluminense.
"Conca even would like to pay his current club 3 million euros to buy out his contract, "the TELAM report said.
But Liu said the club have not received any formal offers on Conca.
"No formal bid for Conca until now. We hope Conca could deal with the matter professionally, he still has a contract with the club. I think he must work harder to become a regular in the match," Liu said.
In May, the Argentine launched a blistering attack on then coach Lee Jang-Soo after being hauled off on the hour mark during his side's AFC Champions League Group H clash with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
He was then suspended for 9 matches by the club but was relieved in the match against Thai league champions Buriram United only two weeks later. Conca scored a winning penalty in that match to send Guangzhou to the final 16 of AFC Champions league.
Copyright ©1999-2011 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.