The Chinese Super League is in a dire state after the end of the golden dollar era. Wuhan Sanzhen's star Malcolm, who just won the championship, was snapped up by a Saudi Arabian team, an incident that is enough to map out the current plight of the Chinese Super League.
Malcolm's transfer is just the tip of the iceberg of foreign aiders fleeing the Chinese Super League in droves this year. According to sources familiar with the matter, Cressan, the leading scorer of Shandong Taishan last season and the best scorer in the league, was also recently scooped up by a West Asian team at a high price. The other side gave the annual salary, Taishan team can not compete.
After Malcolm and Cressan, another top foreign aid in the Chinese Super League has been revealed to be heading to West Asia soon. He is the highest paid foreign aid in the Chinese Super League, Brazilian player Oscar of Shanghai Port.
According to several Saudi media reports, Saudi Arabia's powerhouse Etihad are expected to sign Oscar in the winter transfer window. Although the annual salary they offered is not as good as Harbour, it is at least above 6 million euros. At the same time, they have also made an attractive transfer offer to the Seaport club. If Seaport agrees, Oscar is likely to be on the verge of becoming a member of Ittihad and shine in the Saudi League.
Oscar, 31, moved to Shanghai Port from Chelsea in 2016 for a whopping 60 million euros and earns a whopping 24 million euros, or about 170 million yuan, a year in Hong Kong. Oscar's salary has not been reduced by a single penny, despite the Football Association having long since issued restrictions on foreign aid wages and club investment.
Despite being the highest paid foreigner in the Chinese Super League (CSL), Oscar did not participate in many CSL matches last year, spending most of his time at home in Brazil. He recently returned home to represent Seaport, but the team still lost the FA Cup to Zhejiang.
With the overall level of the Chinese Super League declining, Oscar's big contract has become a huge burden for Seaport. Therefore, getting rid of the Brazilian foreigner as soon as possible has become a top priority for Seaport.
At this point, Etihad's intervention just solved this problem for the seaport. Seaport was willing to send Oscar to West Asia as long as Etihad's offer was low enough.
This season, the Saudi Arabian league once again set off a "gold dollar soccer" boom. Not long ago, Riyadh Crescent signed Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo for 200 million euros. If Oscar joins the Etihad, he will face off with Ronaldo in the Saudi Arabian League, which will surely become the focus of attention.
Can Saudi soccer improve with the introduction of these big names? Let's wait and see...
