Last season, when Chinese multi-billionaire Shu Yihui expressed his desire to sign up Lionel Messi for Tianjin Quanjian—the Chinese football club he owned—people dismissed it as a whim of a rich man. The club used to play in the second division then. Tianjin Quanjian has since been promoted to the top tier and shocked the footballing fraternity recently by revealing that it has set its sights on prolific Chelsea striker Diego Costa for a whopping 80 million pounds (around $98 million) transfer fee.
Though the cream of the football world—the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar—might still be tantalisingly away from their reach, the Chinese football clubs are leaving no stones unturned to bring in some of the big names to the Chinese Super League (CSL). In fact, Ronaldo, reportedly, rejected a bid from an unnamed Chinese club to leave Real Madrid for an outrageous transfer fee of around $315 million!
Argentine striker Carlos Tevez is one such name who has taken the lucrative jump, signing a two-year contract with Shanghai Greenland Shenhua for $40 million, which makes him the world's highest salaried footballer. Tevez, who played for Manchester United, Manchester City, Juventus and West Ham United, left Boca Juniors to join the Chinese side.
The move came close on the heels of yet another high-profile signing—that of Brazilian international and Chelsea man Oscar to Shanghai SIPG for a transfer fee of around $63 million. That he was not a regular in the starting XI for the Blues would have made it easy for him to make the decision. Also, having been out of the national team during the Copa America and Rio Olympics, the 25-year-old midfielder would be looking to be back in reckoning with a stellar show in the CSL.
Oscar
Oscar, however, would not be missing the Samba flair in China. He has compatriot Hulk for company at Shanghai SIPG. There's also his former Chelsea teammate Ramires, though he plays for a different club, Jiangsu Suning, and other fellow Brazilians such as Alex Teixeira, Paulinho, Renato Augusto and Diego Tardelli, among several others from the South American footballing powerhouse, plying their trade in China. And it is not just Brazilian players who are making their presence felt there. Former national team coaches Mano Menezes and Luiz Felipe Scolari are managing Shandong Luneng and Guangzhou Evergrande respectively. In fact, Scolari guided his club to its fifth consecutive CSL title.
Money talks, they say. In China it hasn't stopped talking since 2011, when Argentine playmaker Dario Conca moved to Guangzhou Evergrande for a then record transfer fee of $10 million. He became the third highest paid footballer then, behind Ronaldo and Messi. Conca went to play for Brazilian club Fluminense in 2014, only to return to China—this time to Shanghai SIPG—a year later. It was big bucks that lured big names like Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba—though both were past their prime—and others like Tim Cahill, Robinho, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse. Several other present-day stars, too, such as Wayne Rooney, Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas have been linked to a possible move to China, though nothing has materialised yet.
Though things might seem rosy for the players who are landing lucrative contracts, the “bubble” might burst sooner than later. People's Daily—the country's official mouthpiece—reported that around eight billion yuan (around $1.15 billion) has been invested by the 16 CSL clubs in 2016 and more than 80 per cent has been used to pay foreign coaches and players. It lamented that “the youth system and infrastructure are not receiving enough funding”. The Chinese Football Association is now planning to reduce the number of overseas players in the playing XI from four to three.
There is a political angle, too, to this splurge on football. President Xi Jinping's declared that he wants China to become a name to reckon with in the world of football. He wants the country to host the World Cup and, if possible, win it some day. There are reports that the government is considering “football-themed schools” and making the game part of the curriculum. The club owners seem to be going all out to realise their president's dream and be in his good books, which might benefit them and their businesses in the long run.
So, do not be surprised if, in a few years, you see 'La Pulga' feigning and dribbling his way past his opponents for Tianjin Quanjian, which is managed by Italian World Cupper Fabio Cannavaro. It would mean Shu Yihui conjured up a supercalifragilistic offer to fulfil his desire, which even Messi couldn't refuse!
