Cahill signs with China's Greentown

The 36-year-old veteran and former Everton midfielder signed a short-term deal with Hangzhou Greentown, the club said on its website.

"We expect Cahill, a main (foreign) player of the club for the new season, to perform well in Chinese Super League (CSL) games," it said.

Cahill, Australia's top goalscorer, is one of the biggest foreign names in the cash-rich CSL, whose clubs have lured talent with multi-million-dollar salaries and hefty transfer fees.

Last week Cahill -- who has accused newer arrivals of being motivated by greed rather than football -- said Shenhua had terminated his contract as he was not part of the new coach's plans.

He thanked Greentown on his verified Instagram account Monday for what he called an "amazing opportunity". 

"I'm very happy to be back playing football. I have signed a contract for 5 months. The future now is clear," he added.

"It's been a difficult and challenging week however I'm very happy with the way this has all worked out."

Cahill left Everton in 2012 and joined the New York Red Bulls.

The Chinese record transfer fee has been smashed four times in the current transfer window, culminating in Jiangsu Suning paying Shakhtar Donetsk 50 million euros ($56 million) for Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira.

Earlier Guangzhou Evergrande snapped up Atletico Madrid's Jackson Martinez for 42 million euros, and Jiangsu signed Ramires from Chelsea for 28 million euros.