In the spring breeze and warm March 14, China's soccer industry ushered in a heavy news: the Super League, the first and second clubs received the official notice of the Football Association, marking the official opening of the transfer window of the new season.
Looking back at the 2022 season, the transfer window for the Premier League experienced two postponements. Originally scheduled to open on January 17, the window was eventually postponed to February 14 due to the extension of the 2021 league season. However, the dust finally settled in mid-February when the transfer window was postponed again to March 14th.
This time, the transfer window for the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division will officially open on March 15 and last for a month until April 15th. The transfer window for China B will be a little later, opening on March 29th and closing on April 29th.
It is worth noting that the transfer policy for the new season has undergone a major change: there is no longer a limit on the number of domestic players that can be brought in by Super League, League One and League Two clubs. This is undoubtedly good news for many players who are facing salary arrears. Those clubs that wish to bring in more powerful players to improve their overall strength will also have a better chance of realizing this goal.
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan players will be treated with reference to the relevant 2018 regulations, while naturalized players will be transferred and registered as domestic players.
In terms of foreign aid, Chinese Super League clubs can register six foreign aiders in the first transfer window, and three in the Central League. In the two transfer windows of the whole season, the cumulative number of registered foreign aiders of the Chinese Super League clubs shall not exceed seven, and the number of foreign aiders of the Chinese League shall not exceed four.
With the opening of the transfer window, clubs have been confirming their targets to bring in and have negotiated the terms. I believe that after March 15, we will have a wave of transfer official announcements.
Meanwhile, the transfer window for the new season has raised some new issues, such as salary limits and access. Regarding salary limits, the General Administration of Sport and the National Football Association are mulling over a third salary cut, with one of the plans being to reduce the input limit to 300 million, and the domestic players' salary limit to RMB 3 million before tax. However, this plan has met with greater opposition.
On the other hand, access review is also a challenge. Because of the widespread problem of wage arrears in the Chinese Super League, how to grasp the criteria for access review has become critical. Whether to adopt an across-the-board approach or to introduce a specific timetable to deal with the problem of wage arrears, all of which is yet to be finalized.
Despite the difficulties in implementing the home and away match system for the 2022 season of the Chinese Super League, the relevant preparations are still progressing steadily. It is reported that the Chinese Super League will start the inspection of clubs' home stadiums in the near future.
In short, the transfer window for the new season is officially open, and clubs have started their reinforcement work. After the issues of salary limitation and access are properly resolved, a brand new season will be ushered in in our soccer world.
