SHANGHAI: Paul Gascoigne described life in China in 2003 as “like being locked in a cave,” but foreign stars in the country today earn among the biggest wages in football and live more like kings than Neanderthals.

The most talented English midfielder of his generation, Gascoigne was one of the first big-name footballers to arrive in China when he made the shock decision to be a player-coach of second division Gansu Tianma.

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