Australian striker rejects move to Chinese club

Australian striker Tomi Juric has rejected a lucrative three-year deal with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua and will instead opt to move to a European club to continue his football career.

Juric looked destined to sign a deal worth $14 million over three years with Shanghai Shenhua and allegedly had a verbal agreement with the club's president that he would sign by Thursday evening, reported Xinhua.

That followed successful discussions between his current club, Western Sydney, and Shanghai Shenhua, in which a $1.2 million transfer fee was agreed.

However, after talking with Australian manager Ange Postecoglou, the 23-year-old has stalled on a move to China and will instead attempt to force through a transfer to a European club at the end of the current A-League season.

"Tomi had talks with Ange over his future and it may be that he told Tomi that he had to live and die by his decision," Juric's agent, Ante Alilovic, was reported by SBS to have said Friday.

"He told Tomi he picks his players on form, but the feeling may also have been given to Tomi by Ange that he would improve more in Europe than China. If I were a national team coach, I would have expressed that view.

Juric scored just his second senior international goal in Australia's 4-0 victory over Oman at the Asian Cup Tuesday.

He also scored the decisive goal in Western Sydney's historic Asian Champions League final victory over Saudi Arabian side Al- Hilal last year.

Although no European clubs are believed to have contacted Juric regarded a move in the January transfer window, the striker is out- of-contract in four months and is free to leave Western Sydney without a transfer fee having to be agreed upon.

Juric currently has two goals from six A-League appearances this year after scoring eight times from 20 matches last season.