According to a report in The Telegraph, Chelsea midfielder Oscar was a target for Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning in the January transfer window. The cash-rich league has been signing players from around the world and had reportedly submitted a £75m bid for the Brazil international which was rejected by the Blues.
Oscar has been in and out of the starting lineup at Stamford Bridge but has scored 8 goals this season, including a hat-trick in the FA Cup fourth round win over MK Dons. He is only 24 and still has a long career ahead of him, perhaps why the Blues turned down such a massive offer. The Brazilian himself may not have been too keen on leaving the Premier League at this stage of his career.
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Jiangsu Suning had already spent big to sign Ramires from the Premier League club. The Brazilian had moved to the CSL and was, at the time, the most expensive signing in the league when the Chinese club spent £25m to sign the Brazilian. Ramires was not a regular starter at Stamford Bridge and moved to China with the promise of becoming one of the main stars and incredibly high wages.
That record was first smashed when striker Jackson Martinez moved to Guangzhou Evergrande from Atletico Madrid for a fee of €42 million. The Spanish club were only too happy to sell him at a profit after he failed to make an impact in La Liga.
The record was broken again when Jiangsu Suning spent £38.4m to sign Liverpool target Alex Teixeira from Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. The Brazilian attacking midfielder is one of many Brazilians now plying their trade in China.
High wages and transfer fee tough to turn down
The transfer fee and wages offered (Ramires is expected to earn £10m per year in China) have lured a number of players over the years to the Chinese Super League – a league that came into being only in 2004 but has since invested heavily in developing football in the country.
The CSL are also reportedly interested in bringing Yaya Toure to China. The report states they are ready to offer Toure wages of almost £30m a year.
The Ivory Coast midfielder may be playing his final season with Manchester City and will be 33 in May. He is also not favoured by Pep Guardiola, who sold him when he was in charge at Barcelona. Guardiola is set to take over at City before the 2016/17 season gets underway.
The Chinese football transfer window closes only on 26 February, giving the clubs three more weeks to try and coax players to join the Chinese Super League.
