Carlos Tevez has hit back at suggestions from Shanghai Shenhua’s chairman that he is unfit to play, describing Chinese players as “not naturally skilled” and doubting whether they will be able to compete with the best nations “even in 50 years”.

The former Manchester United and Manchester City forward signed a lucrative two-year contract with Shenhua worth an estimated £630,000 a week in December but has featured only 13 times in the Chinese Super League this season, scoring three times. That led the club’s chairman, Wu Xiaohui, to admit the 33-year-old had “not met their expectations”, with reports that Tevez had been warned to lose weight by the new head coach, Wu Jingui.

However in an interview with the French television station SFR Sport on Wednesday, Tevez criticised the standard of football in China.

“Chinese players are not as naturally skilled like South American or European players,” he said. “Like players who learned football when they were kids. They’re not good. Even in 50 years, they still won’t be able to compete.”

Reports in Argentina have suggested that Tevez, who has been regularly booed by Shenhua supporters, may be ready to return to his boyhood side Boca Juniors despite more than a year remaining on his contract.

"Techniquement, ils ne sont pas bons" 👊 L'ITW surréaliste de Tevez sur les joueurs locaux du championnat chinois 😲🇨🇳⚽️ #BreakingFoot #CSL pic.twitter.com/BV7XhwfmuX — SFR Sport (@SFR_Sport) September 19, 2017

Wu Xiaohui said earlier this week: “Our intention was to bring in an influential star player with high quality, and we all think Tevez could fit the bill. However due to a lack of winter training and match fitness, he didn’t meet our expectations.”