China is not a nation you’d list when thinking about the world’s footballing elite. But President Xi Jinping is hoping to change that. Last year, China unveiled a plan to “become a footballing juggernaut by 2050”. The country is spending more money to attract players, including some of the game’s biggest names, to move to China.
The exorbitant fees that the Chinese Super League has been willing to pay to land the world’s best look like peanuts compared to what one unnamed CSL club was willing to pay Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo to bring the Ballon d’Or winner to East Asia.
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea’s Brazilian attacker Oscar is on the verge of completing a historic transfer to Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG. SIPG made waves back in June by signing Hulk for a record fee of £47.5 millionNea, but Oscar looks set to join his fellow Brazilian and smash that record in the process.
We really don't know much about Gervinho's time in China thus far, but if this video is any indication, it's not gone well.
The former Arsenal and Roma player, who may or may not have once demanded a helicopter as part of a transfer deal, got a little, uh, overexuberant during a challenge and stomped the bejeezus out of an opponent.
I can see it now, the invitation letter fluttering down the chimney a la Hogwarts and gently nestling at the feet of former Canadian player turned China national beach soccer coach Ross Ongaro.
Dear Mr. Ongaro,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at the 2016 Beach Soccer Worldwide Mundialito. You’ll play Portugal, Brazil, and the United States of America. This is not a joke. Best of luck, lads!
Sepp Blatter
The player goes where the heart (or the multimillion-dollar investment) is.
This year we have seen a surge in Chinese soccer investments, both in China and Europe. Chinese billionaires have been buying up European clubs and, more interestingly, they have been buying top players to take home.
President Xi Jinping has set out to revamp China's football development system, which includes the goal of having over 100,000 new players by 2017.