The money lures Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi to China. Photo: Yoan Valat
(Photo: dpa)
And Lavezzi is in good company. More than four billion yuan Heavy industry and the country’s largest coal port make the city not exactly a climatic health resort. The official smog index repeatedly reaches unhealthy levels. The starting point of the Great Wall of China, which can be visited nearby, or fried shrimp, which Qinghuangdao is also known for, will probably not be the reason for Lavezzi’s desire for China.
But perhaps the staggering salary his club Hebei Fortune are said to be paying the 31-year-old since joining from Paris Saint-Germain. According to media reports, which Hebei Fortune does not want to comment on, Lavezzi now earns 578,000 euros a week in China, 150,000 euros more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s rumored salary. This would make the Argentine – 2014 final loser against the German world champions – one of the best paid players in the world.
And Lavezzi is in good company. Chinese clubs paid more than four billion yuan ($600 million) for 95 foreign players this year, China’s People’s Daily reports. New, lucrative television contracts and financially strong corporations as sponsors ensure that China’s clubs can pay such crazy sums for foreign football know-how.
Just last week, the Brazilian national player Oscar followed the lure of big money from the Far East: The 25-year-old is expected to collect more than 21 million euros a year from Shanghai SIPG from January. Chelsea are said to have received a transfer fee of over 70 million euros – the most expensive winter transfer to date.
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Shanghai had previously committed Oscars compatriot Hulk for around 56 million euros. Alex Teixeira, Ramires, the Ivorian Gervinho. They’re all playing in China now – the list goes on, and clubs in the West are sounding the alarm.
Lavezzi’s compatriot Carlos Tevez is also moving to China. Club Shanghai Shenhua signed the 32-year-old from Buenos Aires-based Boca Juniors for a fee of $11 million. Among those being courted is reportedly world champion Lukas Podolski of Galatasaray Istanbul.
The Super League’s new financial power is potentially a “global threat” to football, warned Chelsea boss Antonio Conte after he had to let Oscar go. Ironically, the Premier League clubs throwing money around feel threatened.
“Chinese fans have been following international football for a long time and demand a similar level in their own league,” said Wang Huyuan, sports journalist for the state-run Global Times. More stars would also mean more fans for the clubs. And the market is also lucrative for trainers: Marcello Lippi, Felipe Luiz Scolari and Felix Magath followed the call from the Far East, just like Klaus Schlappner did as a trainer pioneer in the 1990s.
However, there are first signs that the millions will at least flow in more doses in the future. China’s President Xi Jinping is a big football fan himself and dreams of a World Cup title for his country. However, the government apparently wants to take action against excessive salaries and transfer fees for stars from abroad.
In a recent commentary, the party organ People’s Daily wrote that the millions for foreign stars would prevent a real “grassroots movement” in China’s football. Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup is practically over. At the same time, China’s football association announced a rule change: In future, only three instead of four foreign players per club will be allowed to be on the pitch at the same time.
Chinese Football Association website
