AVERAGE ATTENDANCES 2015/16
German Bundesliga: 42,442
English Premier League: 36,452
Spanish La Liga: 27,922
Chinese Super League: 22,193
Italian Serie A: 20,878
English Championship: 19,651
French Ligue 1: 18,895
Dutch Eredivisie: 18,722
Hulk. Ramires. Ezequiel Lavezzi. Three players with an array of talent, an abundance of international caps and the world literally at their feet. Eyebrows were raised as they opted to sacrifice Champions League football to join the Chinese revolution and play football at what we would consider to be a relatively substandard level.
No doubt they will have had offers from some of the top clubs in Europe, but the lure of huge wages in Asia's most lucrative market was just too good an opportunity to turn down.
And who can blame them?
This is the league that has reportedly made Graziano Pelle the fifth highest paid player in world football. Graziano Pelle. A player whose only domestic honour is a league title with AZ Alkmaar in 2008/09. Let that sink in.
But that didn't stop Shandong Lueng from parting with £12m to secure his signature from Southampton. An impressive Euro 2016 with Italy was enough to seal an estimated €16m-a-year salary.
A lot has been made about the lucrative transfers and wages being paid by clubs in the Chinese Super League, but what is rarely reported is that each club is only allowed five foreign imports. This rule is to ensure that promising young, homegrown players' development isn't hampered or restricted by a team of mercenaries from across the globe.
Perhaps the Premier League should look at adopting a similar rule, which might enable talented academy stars to achieve their potential at the highest level of the game, thus benefitting the national side.
Fledgling players now have the chance to learn first-hand on the pitch from some of the finest talent in football – and it shows.
Hulk, 30
£47.43m
Alex Teixeira, 26
£42.5m
China now sit 78th in the FIFA World Rankings, up three places since the previous list was released. There has been steady improvement since recording an all-time low rank of 109 in March 2013, and with the nation gripped by sport following success at the last few Olympic Games, the demand for progress is high among the population.
Football attendances are increasing, with 22,193 on average attending each game throughout the 2015/16 campaign – figures higher than those in Ligue 1, Series A and Dutch Eredivisie.
Averaging almost 46,000 fans at the 58,500 capacity Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao are the division's standout team. Luiz Felipe Scolari's side, based in Guangdong Province, have won the Chinese Super League for five consecutive seasons since winning promotion in 2010 and are currently seven points clear of Jiangsu Sainty with four games remaining.
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho joined in June 2015 for a fee in the region of £10m, while leading the line is Colombia striker Jackson Martinez. The former Porto and Atletico Madrid star is a stellar name to attract big crowds.
With attendances up more than 3,000 on average from last season, short term expenditure could be long term gain for clubs in China. The attraction of one last pay-off before retirement could be the icing on the cake for the world’s top stars – but will it be the MLS, where the American public has gradually grown to love soccer, or the Chinese Super League?
These two markets can offer players the opportunity to extend their careers in what are becoming more fiercely competitive leagues and, in the next decade, don’t be surprised to see more household names signing off in style.
The idea of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo playing in front of sold out China stadia on a weekly basis might not be as far-fetched as first thought.
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Article posted: 27 September 2016
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