Officials from Gansu Tianma, Paul Gascoigne's Chinese club, were today trying to track down the midfielder amid reports that he has checked into a US rehab clinic. "Gascoigne is not in Gansu, he left last Thursday. He should be back next week but I'm not clear about the specifics," the Chinese club's coach Gong Lei said on Friday.
Zhong Bohong, the team's general manager, told Reuters by telephone: "We gave him a holiday to handle his private affairs."
The 35-year-old Gascoigne arrived in China in January in the hope of reviving his career and signed a one-year renewable contract to be player-coach at Tianma. He fired a brilliant goal on his debut last month against the Qingdao-based Hailifeng and scored a penalty in the Chinese B-league club's last league match on April 6 against Guangzhou in a 1-1 draw.
British newspapers reported this week that Gascoigne had checked into a US rehab clinic after returning briefly to London.
Filed by Johnny Proby
