20 of the best foreign players to have played in the Chinese Super League

9 – Demba Ba

Ba is currently recovering from a horrible injury

Demba Ba had unsuccessful trials at Lyon, Auxerre, Barnsley, Swansea City and Gillingham before signing with French club Rouen in 2005. He had a massive impact there, scoring 22 goals in 26 appearances. Belgian side Mouscron managed to secure his signature for the following season before he went on to play for 1899 Hoffenheim, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Besiktas before finally joining Shanghai Shenhua.

Ba has maintained a great goals to games ratio throughout his career. His least prolific spell was at Chelsea, where he hit the back of the net just 7 times in 33 games as third choice behind Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o. The Senegalese international joined Shanghai Shenhua on a three-year deal in June 2015. He’s scored 20 goals in 29 appearances for the club. The striker suffered a horrific injury in a game against rivals Shanghai SIPG, breaking his leg as it twisted under him during a fall. At the time it looked like it may have been a career-ending injury, but after surgery, the player is expected to return to action in a few months.