Cristiano Ronaldo’s headline-grabbing arrival at Al-Nassr on a bumper pay deal captured global attention last month, but in an alternate world the five-time Ballon D’or winner might well have been destined for a move further east.
The Portuguese striker’s Saudi Arabia switch following the cancelation of his Manchester United contract has highlighted a shift within Asian soccer that started before the COVID-19 pandemic and which continues to have a significant impact.
With money pouring into clubs often owned by debt-fueled property developers, the Chinese Super League (CSL) had since early last decade been enticing an increasing number of leading players and coaches to the country.
Photo: Reuters
Shanghai SIPG’s 2016 signing of Brazilian duo Oscar and Hulk for a combined fee of 130 million euros (US$141.3 million at the current exchange rate) highlighted the intent of a league that had already attracted FIFA World Cup-winning coaches Marcello Lippi and Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Carlos Tevez’s arrival at Shanghai Shenhua soon after on a rumored ￡600,000 (US$742,860) per week only confirmed China’s status as soccer’s latest El Dorado.
Authorities concerned about overspending tightened regulations, but did little to cool speculation that the game’s biggest names were China-bound, and it came as little surprise when Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were linked with CSL clubs.
Ronaldo in particular was connected time and again with a move east, with fast-rising, big-spending Tianjin Quanjian touted in 2018 as a possible destination after the forward’s agent Jorge Mendes was pictured with the club’s owner.
However, much has changed five years on. Tianjin were among the first of a raft of CSL clubs to close due to financial or legal issues, with Wuhan Yangtze River the latest to shut last week.
Talent has drained from the CSL into the Saudi Pro League, with the competition’s leading scorers — Al-Nassr’s Anderson Talisca, Al-Ittihad’s Abderrazak Hamdallah and Al-Hilal’s Odion Ighalo — all having previously played in China.
Saudi Arabia harbors significant ambitions with the country due to host the 2027 Asian Cup, while launching a bid to organize the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
Those moves come after China was forced last year to relinquish the rights to the 2023 Asian Cup as its “zero COVID” policy had no end in sight at the time.
With attention now squarely focused on the oil-funded riches on offer in Saudi Arabia, Chinese soccer’s luster has all but disappeared.
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