The soccer bubble of the golden dollar era burst, and the prosperity of the Chinese Super League took a sharp turn for the worse. With the introduction of the neutral name policy by the Football Association, many clubs lost the gold masters behind them and their financial chains broke.
Under this severe situation, many foreign and naturalized players have chosen to leave the Chinese Super League, with Guangzhou Evergrande (now known as Guangzhou), as the former eight-time champion, bearing the brunt.
Since the summer of 2021, Evergrande's heavyweight foreign and naturalized players have been leaving the team. Last summer, the team's last naturalized player, Jiang Guangtai, also moved to Shanghai Port on a free transfer.
Recently, Beijing Guoan's naturalized player Hou Yongyong also left the Chinese Super League to join the Norwegian League team Lanheim. Another naturalized player, Li Ke, is still in doubt as to whether he will remain at Guoan in the new season.
Just as the Chinese Super League has seen a wave of naturalized players "fleeing", a naturalized player is bucking the trend and will return to the Chinese Super League. This player is the first non-blood naturalized player in the history of Chinese soccer, Eckerson.
The 33-year-old Iversen entered the Chinese Super League a decade ago, joining Guangzhou Evergrande. Since then, he has spent three and a half seasons at Shanghai Port, and returned to Evergrande in the summer of 2019, when he was converted from a foreign aid to a local player.
After returning to Evergrande, Ackerson was still selected for the national team without any controversy, even though he has not recovered his peak form. However, his performance in the national team was full of controversy. A weight gain and a decline in form made his performance in the preseason unsatisfactory, and he was even discarded by former coach Li Tie.
Early last year, after Guangzhou defaulted on his salary, Aickerson quickly terminated his contract and returned to Brazil to join Gremio B. However, Aixon's form and ability could no longer adapt to the rhythm of the Pakistan B League. Last season, he scored only four goals, poor form, was hidden by the team, and left the team at the end of last year after his contract expired.
After struggling to get a foothold in Brazil, Ickerson has decided to return to the Chinese Super League and he will join Chengdu Chengdu. Obviously, Iverson's salary in the Chinese Super League is not comparable to Evergrande's. I firmly believe that no club will offer 10 million euros per year. I strongly believe that no club will offer 10 million euros per year.
For the 2023 season, the FA will introduce a new salary limit policy for players. In view of this, Iversen's annual salary in Chengdu Rongcheng is expected to be at most 1 million euros, or even lower. In other words, in order to return to the Chinese Super League, Ickxon will need to voluntarily reduce his salary by 9 million euros (about 65 million yuan).
However, over the past decade, Ickerson has amassed a handsome fortune playing for Everest and Harbor. Right now, he's probably doing quite well. Perhaps, this time, Ickerson chose to return to the Chinese Super League, truly to be recalled to play for Chinese soccer.
However, with Aixon's current form, I'm afraid there is little hope for him to return to the national team. Of course, if he finds his shooting boots in the new Chinese Super League season, the FA and interim national soccer coach Li Xiaopeng may give him another chance to serve his country.
