China wants to monitor million-euro transfers

The two highest-paid players in the world play in the Chinese Super League. A government agency is set to oversee extreme spending.

Ranked only 82nd in the world football rankings and without any major international achievements, China's national team or domestic league has historically played a minor role. But in the past two years, China has become a powerhouse in the football transfer market. At the turn of the year, two teams from the Shanghai-based Super League managed to lure global stars—Brazilian midfielder Oscar and Argentine forward Carlos Tevez—by offering them huge salaries. With an annual income of around 40 million euros, Tevez became the highest-paid footballer in the world, while Oscar, earning 25 million euros, ranks just behind him. These extravagant wages and high transfer fees prompted a response from the Chinese government through the state agency General Administration of Sport.

“We will regulate and restrict expensive purchases and introduce a salary cap to control irrational investments,” the agency said, as quoted by the website insideworldfootball.

And it’s not just about Tevez and Oscar. Half of the 16 best-paid footballers in the world currently play in the Chinese Super League. The league has already taken its first step to curb the uncontrolled influx of costly signings. Starting from the new season in March, clubs will only be allowed to field four foreign players per match, down from five.

“It seems that China has become more alert due to these lucrative signings. We can expect the introduction of a Chinese-style financial fair play system,” said sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos for the Economic Daily. The agency’s statement further indicates that the original goal—to develop domestic talent alongside international stars—has been replaced by unchecked recruitment at any cost. This is confirmed by Jorge Mendes, agent of the world’s top footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. At the end of last year, he confirmed that his client had received an offer from an unnamed Chinese club for a yearly salary of 100 million dollars, with Real Madrid potentially earning a staggering 300 million in transfer fees. Currently, similar speculation surrounds Bundesliga’s top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for whom Shanghai SIPG is reportedly willing to pay 150 million. “In my opinion, despite the announced efforts to regulate the transfer market, not much will change. China will continue to lure big names with attractive salaries,” Tokos concluded.

China's main football ambition is to become a regular participant in the World Cup—and one day to host the tournament. A sign of China’s growing influence in the world’s most popular sport is the Wanda Group, which last year became FIFA’s first sponsor from the world's most populous country. Besides investing in top players, Chinese clubs are also hiring world-renowned coaches. Today, the Super League features managers like Sven-Göran Eriksson, Manuel Pellegrini, André Villas-Boas, and Luiz Felipe Scolari. An indicator of the league’s rising appeal is the growth in match attendance. In 2006, the average attendance per game was just over 16,000. Last year, it climbed to more than 24,000 fans per game—more than the Italian Serie A or the French Ligue 1. The Chinese Super League is now among the global top five in attendance. “There’s visible progress in that league, and even from a sporting perspective, its level is improving year by year,” Tokos added.