Dario Conca earns $10.4 million a year. But who is he?

[King_Crud]

He's one of the world's highest-paid footballers ... and you've never heard of him.

Dario Conca, a 28-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder who plies his trade in the Brasileirao football league for Fluminense, hasn't even played for his national team.

But this week, he was signed by Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande - nicknamed the "Chinese Chelsea" - for a record fee of $US10 million ($9.3 million), with a reported pay packet of $10.4 million a year, ESPN's Soccernet website reported.

That puts the 1.65-metre player in the same league as the world's biggest earners - Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney - who all play for Europe's biggest clubs and who each earn an average of €11 million ($14.6 million) a year.

Although Conca has never played outside Latin America, he is not without accolades and was voted the Brasileirao's top player for 2009 and 2010.

He scored 17 goals in 81 appearances for Fluminense, and first joined the Brazilian club on loan from Argentinian giants River Plate in 2002.

His Fluminense coach, Abel Braga, said the hefty salary would "allow him and his family financial security in just 2½ years".

"This is a good offer for the club, and words cannot describe what it represents to Conca," Braga told Brazilian website Globoesporte, ESPN reported.

"This offer will put him in the top 10 highest-paid players in the world. Let us hope that it happens. He is a guy who has completely identified with the club but this is a unique opportunity."

Unsurprisingly, Conca was thrilled about the deal: "I'm so happy to have received such an important offer."

But he added the decision to leave Fluminense was difficult and he thought long and hard about the move.

"I know it's a market with less visibility, but I made the decision thinking about my family," he told reporters at a press conference in Brazil.

Guangzhou had set China's previous transfer record when it brought Brazilian player Cleo from Serbia's Partizan Belgrade for $US4.65 million in February.

Guangzhou - which was bought by the Evergrande Real Estate Group last year - sits at the top of the Chinese Super League.

The Evergrande Real Estate Group is one of China's largest and its chairman Xu Jiayin is one of the country's richest men, with a net worth of $US443 million.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/dario-conca-earns-104-million-a-year-but-who-is-he-20110708-1h5ov.html

[FP]

He is a product of the relegated Argentine giant River Plate. A case that show yet one more time the great vision of River's last 10 years administrations. He's not known here as there's not much information on brazilian football on the media in Argentina. There was a little media coverage during last WC qualifiers when a survey in Brazil show that 70% of brazilians thought he should have been given a chance by Maradona in the national team, which never happened.

One thing i'm sure of is that brazilians know about football, so if the lad played in one of the big teams there, was one of their best players, and they say he should be in the national team, i'm sure he must be outstanding. There are not many players from Argentina that go to Brazil and are successful, i can count them on the fingers of one hand (Tevez, Mascherano and him)