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

18 – Fredy Guarin

Guarin has been impressive throughout his career, regardless of where he was playing

Fredy Alejandro Guarin Vasquez began his playing career with Colombian club Envigado FC, from where he was loaned out to Argentinian club Boca Juniors and then French side AS Saint-Etienne. After spending the 2006/07 season on loan at AS Saint-Etienne, the club made a permanent deal with the player, signing a four-year contract. However, he would only play with them for a year, as in July 2008, Fredy Guarin put pen to paper on a four-year contract with Portuguese giants FC Porto. He was used primarily as a substitute, but he made some important contributions to the team, making 63 appearances and scoring 11 goals. In his time with Porto, Guarin won the Taca de Portugal, the Primeira Liga as well as the UEFA Europa League.

In 2012 Guarin went to Inter Milan on a loan deal with the option to make the move permanent. The Nerazzurri were impressed with the Colombian and made the deal a permanent one just four months into his loan. In the January transfer window of 2014, Guarin was meant to transfer to Juventus in an exchange deal involving Mirko Vucinic, but the move didn’t go through, as the clubs couldn’t come to an agreement. There was some discontent following that, but the 30-year-old stayed on for another two years, making 108 appearances for the club. In January 2016 Guarin officially became a Shanghai Shenhua player. So far he has made 20 appearances for the Chinese side, notching up three goals.