Shanghai SIPG coach Andre Villas-Boas on Monday said he has promised the club's president "will sleep with one trophy" come the end of the season following its massive transfer-market spend.

The $65 million capture of Oscar from Chelsea has already proved fruitful, with the Brazilian scoring in his debut to help SIPG beat Thai side Sukhothai and qualify for the Asian Champions League group stage.

And Villas-Boas is confident silverware is on the way.

"I've promised the club president that at the end of the season he would sleep with one trophy," said the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss at a season-launch event.

"I hope that me and the players can give this special night to him at the end of the season."

SIPG finished third in last year's Chinese Super League, 12 points behind champion Guangzhou Evergrande.

"It's really important for us to try to shorten the distance to the top, to be first, to be there winning trophies," added Villas-Boas, who succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson at the SIPG helm in November.

"I think it's a good time for myself, representing the team, to thank the group for all the financial effort they have done at the beginning of the season.

"Now I think it's up to us to make the difference on the pitch, to make sure that we reach our objectives. Everybody's dream in football of winning."

Oscar is reportedly earning around $25 million a season, eclipsing the salaries of superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Oscar's salary is still below the $40 million Shanghai Shenhua is believed to be paying Carlos Tevez, which would make the Argentine the world's best-paid player.

Chinese teams' record-breaking splurge, however, has been reined in following the announcement of salary caps and other curbs in January.