Marcos Flores will no longer be an Adelaide United player according to the following report in the Adelaide Advertiser.

The Johnny Warren medal winner will walk away from Adelaide's marquee contract offer in favour of Chinese football. Flores will be transferred to China's Henan Jianye during the FIFA July/August transfer window's first day of business on Friday.

The proposed Adelaide deal which would have tied Flores to the Reds until 2014 wasn't good enough. Flores was still hoping to agree to terms with the Reds last Friday when he was interviewed by Fox Sports football host Simon Hill during The Martyn Crook Foundation dinner.

Hill highlighted the fact Flores had lit up Alice Springs and Uluru during the flying Reds visit to Central Australia with Eugene Galekovic and Daniel Mullen a fortnight ago before asking the inevitable "will you stay or go" question.

"Love and business are two different things," Flores said.

Adelaide chairman Greg Griffin confirmed Flores was on his way to China.

"We were told on Friday afternoon by Marcos," Griffin said.

"We tried to dissuade him, we are very disappointed."

The Reds are tipped to earn a reported $500,000 transfer fee for Flores.

He is set to make his debut for Jianye on Saturday against former Central Coast Mariners boss Lawrie McKinna's Chengdu Blades. The Blades also house another former Reds favourite Gyawe Jonas Salley. Flores will address the Reds squad on Monday telling his teammates about the move to China in what is looming to be his final Reds training session.

The Chinese embassy is now processing Flores' visa before the affable playmaker flies out to join his new teammates before the end of the week.

And Flores won't have a chance to display his slinky skills for the last time in a Reds shirt when Adelaide is expected to host Galaxy at Hindmarsh Stadium in a friendly on Wednesday night.

The Argentinean, who has made his mark on the Reds, the A-League and the AFC Champions League by growing a legion of fans since former coach Aurelio Vidmar signed him on a two-year deal in January 2010, is reportedly melancholic. He was expected to remain a Red but the club's offer of $320,000 per season was well short of what Jianye is tipped to hand Flores until the end of the 2013 season.

Jianye has offered Flores $800,000 per season as it aims to consolidate its spot in the Chinese Super League.