How bad is the Chinese Super League after the gold dollar soccer bubble burst? The fact that Malcolm Malcolm, the golden boot scorer for Wuhan Sanzhen who just won the league title, was poached by a Saudi club is proof enough.
Malcolm's move to the West Asian league is just the beginning of foreigners fleeing the Chinese Super League this year. It is reported that Cressan, the top scorer of Shandong Taishan last season and winner of the league's silver boot, was also recently poached by a West Asian club. The other club offered the Brazilian striker a huge annual salary that the Taishan club could not match.
After Malcolm and Cressan, another big Chinese Super League (CSL) foreign aid player has recently been revealed to be heading to West Asia for gold. He is the highest paid foreign aid in the Chinese Super League per year, Brazilian superstar Oscar from Shanghai Port.
Recently, several Saudi sports media reported that Saudi giant club Etihad is expected to bring in Seaport Oscar in the winter window. Although the annual salary they offered Oscar is not as high as Seaport's, it will not be less than 6 million euros at least. In addition, they have offered a very attractive transfer offer to the Seaport club. If Seaport can accept this offer, Oscar is very hopeful of joining Etihad recently and will soon appear in the Saudi League.
Oscar, 31, joined Shanghai Port from Chelsea in 2016 for a hefty transfer fee of €60 million. Meanwhile, his annual salary at Hong Kong has reached a staggering 24 million euros, equivalent to about 170 million yuan. Even though the Football Association issued a limit on foreign aid wages and club investment in the Chinese Super League two years ago, Oscar has not been affected by this policy and his annual salary at the Hong Kong club has not been reduced by a single penny.
Although he has become the highest paid foreigner in the Chinese Super League, Oscar didn't play in a few Super League games last year and spent most of last season at home in Brazil. He recently returned to China to represent Seaport in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but Seaport were still eliminated by Zhejiang and missed out on the FA Cup title.
With the whole Chinese Super League becoming more and more sluggish, Oscar's big contract has become a heavy burden for Hong Kong clubs. Therefore, clearing the Brazilian foreigner as soon as possible is one of the top priorities for Hong Kong clubs.
At this point, the presence of Etihad FC could just help Harbour Club to solve this problem. Therefore, as long as Etihad's transfer fee is ridiculously low, Harbour Club should be more than willing to send Oscar to West Asia.
This season, the Saudi Arabian league once again fully opened the "gold dollar soccer" mode. Not long ago, Riyadh Crescent signed Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for 200 million euros. If Oscar can join Etihad, he will meet Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian League. The showdown between these two big names will inevitably attract widespread attention.
Will the standard of Saudi soccer improve further by bringing in so many outdated big names? Let's wait and see...
