February 5 – Chinese football has smashed its transfer record for the third time in 10 days after yet another much sought-after Brazilian opted to go east instead of remaining in Europe.
Alex Teixeira, a major target for Liverpool, has signed for Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar Donetsk for a staggering €50 million to become the Chinese Super League’s latest high-profile recruit on the back of a lucrative new tv rights deal.
Ex-Chelsea midfielder Ramires also joined Jiangsu Suning, followed by Jackson Martinez’s move to Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao from Atletico Madrid.
With the lure of Chinese cash too great to resist, the Ukrainian side announced on its website that it had “agreed on all the necessary formalities” for Teixeira’s move.
The 26-year-old joined Shakhtar in December 2009 from Vasco da Gama and scored 89 goals in 223 appearances, helping them claim five league titles.
Shakhtar claimed they rejected a £24 million offer from a Premier League club, presumably Liverpool, before agreeing to sell him to Jiangsu. The Chinese transfer window shuts on February 26, with the Super League season getting under way in early March.
Jiangsu Suning, which changed its name from Jiangsu Sainty following the club’s recent purchase by the Suning Commerce Group, are current holders of the Chinese FA Cup, a victory that qualified them for the 2016 Asian Champions League. The group stage for this year’s competition gets under way next month, with Jiangsu drawn to face South Korean and Vietnamese opposition. Guangzhou Evergrande are the current Asian champions.
To date more than 160 Brazilian players have been granted visas to play in the Chinese Super League. “You can’t take away the fact that money is the primary factor,” former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, now in charge of Shanghai SIPG was quoted as saying.
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