Sports Replay on football: Chinese Super League will be better

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The Chinese Super League (CSL) made global headlines last season when some of the league’s clubs spent lavishly on talent such as Brazilian internationals Oscar and Hulk, to go with the big money spent on bringing in Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez.

Now, the league is out of the spotlight and football officials have been working to put a stop to CSL overspending and ensuring that more young talent are getting a fair share of playing time.

“It takes maybe a longer time, [but] the league is going to get better because of Chinese local talent,” said Yan Qiang, a renowned Chinese football commentator.

The CSL has also had several success stories this season. The transfer of Paulinho to Barcelona from Guangzhou Evergrande proved players can maintain good value if they decide to move to China.

“Paulinho played fantastic when he had joined Barca for 40 million Euro transfer fee, when he played in the CSL and AFC Champions league for the past two seasons, he still represented Brazil and played all the 2018 World cup qualifying matches. That proves the competitive level in the CSL is not that bad,” Yan said.

Carlos Tevez reportedly earns 850,000 US dollars a week. /‍VCG Photo

Elsewhere, the ex-Manchester City striker, Carlos Tevez, was made one the highest earners in football when Shanghai Shenhua paid him a reported 850,000 US dollars a week to move from his native Argentina.

It didn’t work out well, and he endured a miserable season, scoring only three goals. The 33-year-old developed the unflattering nickname, “The Homesick Boy”, a play on how his name is pronounced in Chinese and a nod to problems he has had throughout his career when settling anywhere.

“I think Tevez’ thing is an individual case, it can be a warning to another club that you can’t just buy players for their name. You should check their personality,” Yan said.

China didn’t qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, much to the dismay to the country's football fans. Yan Qiang believes things will be different in four years and the PRC will qualify for the Qatar 2022 edition, adding that he believes their inclusion at the global showpiece will happen before another Chinese player suits up to play in the Premier League again.