The Reasons Behind The Chinese League's Huge Spending

06 February 2016 15:13

Unless you have been living under a rock you might have noticed the influx of huge profile players that have been joining the Chinese Super League in the last month. The league on the whole has seen almost a dozen top European players and has spent over £100 million in the process as well as being linked with many more players in the summer.

Even though the league was relatively unknown before they year they have attracted several big name players in the past such as Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Demba Ba and Asamoah Gyan.

A lot of people are aware of the spending by not as many are aware of the reasons why and for the spending. So let’s start from the beginning:

Firstly, there is an absolutely no transfer restrictions. Almost every league in the world has some sort of regulations on transfers such as financial fair play rules in the Premier League or the salary cap rules in the MLS or the A-League. This is not the case in China, however. Team are allowed to sign who they want and for how much they want.

Secondly, there is the monstrous TV deal that was recently signed. The deal is worth a reported $1.2 billion and was distributed among the teams evenly which has led to wide spread spending from a number of teams, and not just the big hitters. The final reason for the staggering number of players heading east this year is Jorge Mendes, the man who has been dubbed the most powerful man in football. The super-agent who is at the forefront of all the biggest deals in Europe recently met up with Chinese League officials and signed a deal with them on behalf of his agency.

Because of this deal we are likely to be seeing more and more high profile players join the Chinese League over the next few season.

It has already been dubbed a retirement league and a money league, but the heads of the league are looking to turn China into a footballing superpower within the next decade.

Youth development has also been an important part of the transformation of the league and it is playing off. Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem signed Chinses youth player Zhang Yuning from Hangzhou Greentown last summer and he has been labelled as a very bright young talent.

I believe that the injection of money has always been about turning to get the Chinese national team into one that can rub shoulders with the world’s elite and signing such great players is the first step in getting the youngsters passionate about the sport.

Big name players in the Chinese League:

Gervinho

Jackson Martinez

Ramires

Fredy Guarin

Alex Teixeira

Demba Ba

Assamoha Gyan

Tim Cahill

Robinho

Paulinho

Jo

Burak Yilmaz

Source: DSG