Modeste poised to end CSL spell
SHANGHAI — Anthony Modeste appears set to end his 13-month spell in China after the French striker failed to appear for Tianjin Quanjian on the weekend and was linked with a return home.
The 30-year-old forward joined Tianjin on a two-year loan from Cologne in Germany last summer and scored seven goals in eight games last season.
But Modeste, a regular scorer in the Bundesliga before moving to China, has netted only four goals in 12 games this term and was not in the lineup on Sunday for Tianjin’s 3-3 Chinese Super League draw at Beijing Renhe.
Modeste has been missing from training, the Tianjin Daily said on the eve of the game, and quoted the team’s Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa as saying: “When we were at winter training in Marbella, Spain, I knew something was up.
“As much as possible I tried to have Modeste focused on training and matches.
“The club has been helping to solve the problem too, but so far we have not had luck.”
French sports daily L’Equipe said Nice is interested in taking back Modeste, who played for the club a decade ago, but it faces competition from teams in Germany, Turkey and Russia.
Quanjian is in the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League but is toiling in the CSL and recently lost star midfielder Axel Witsel to Borussia Dortmund in Germany.
Tianjin can still rely on Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato, whose strike in Sunday’s stalemate was his 10th goal in 12 league games.