MAKE no mistake, the Chinese Super League are determined to buy their way to the top of the football power rankings, with Chelsea star Oscar revealing he was the subject of an astonishing £58million bid from Jiangsu Suning this month.
The notion has always been that the emerging league offers little more than a lucrative ‘retirement package’ to fading stars but clearly the competition has grander plans than that, with another Brazilian, Alex Teixeira, shunning a move to the Premier League or one of Europe’s top divisions in favour of a switch to China in January despite being in his prime at 26 years of age.
Fortunately for Chelsea fans, Oscar rejected the offer, claiming that at 24, he’s too young to call time on his Premier League career and won’t be following Blues team-mate and compatriot Ramires to the Far East.
The midfielder told the Daily Express: “Of course I was sad to see (Ramires) go in the sense that we’re from the same country, we’re friends, we speak the same language and help each other out, but it’s a good move for him.
“There was interest in me but I’ve no desire to leave Europe.
“The idea of moving to China would be such a huge change for me and would go against everything I’ve achieved so far.
“Chelsea are a fantastic, very big club and I’m still young. I’m only 24 so I’ve got a lot of football ahead of me.”
Jiangsu are likely to have a second crack at adding Oscar to their cadre of Brazilian stars that already includes Ramires and Teixeira and, while the Chelsea midfielder has stated he won’t be swayed by ludicrous amounts of cash, there are plenty of other big names and big clubs that would find such an offer too difficult to knock back.
The money is clearly there for the Chinese clubs so is this the beginning of a major shift in the balance of world football?
Should the likes of the Premier League be concerned now that the burgeoning and highly ambitious league are targeting young players at the height of their powers?
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Football Advisor – bet with confidence.
KYRIAN C. UMUNNAKWE
Mar 17, 2016 at 9:21 pm
just speechless. because I ll miss him if he goes.