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China’s football future: back to buying big after cooling-off period on expensive foreign investments
- Chinese clubs, and their parent companies, are flexing their muscles in the transfer market again
- Big-money moves for Marko Arnautovic and Rafa Benitez – among other rumoured transfers – show CSL clubs are spending big again
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When Austrian footballer Marko Arnautovic recently completed his transfer away from English Premier League club West Ham United, it brought rumours about his future to an end.
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Back in January, speculation was rife that Arnautovic would move for a fee of £35 million (US$43.6 million, HK$340.8 million). His eventual departure was for a rather less eye-watering £22 million (a somewhat modest price in the currently overheated market for footballers).
However, it was the Austrian’s destination rather than his transfer fee that was most significant. Arnautovic was heading to China, signing for one of the Chinese Super League’s (CSL) top clubs – Shanghai SIPG.
This had long been the expected outcome, though an earlier deal had stalled amidst concerns that it would fall foul of a player transfer tax that is levied in China, and of government restrictions on overseas capital movements. In this context, the significance of the player’s move to SIPG rests in its symbolism rather than its financial magnitude.
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Around the same time as this deal was completed, a new overseas manager also arrived in the CSL; Rafael Benitez, recently departed from English club Newcastle United, was announced as the new manager of Dalian Yifang.
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