In the midst of the changing soccer world on July 3, the Chinese Super League's Wuhan Football Team officially announced the successful signing of Brazilian striker Anderson Lopes, a now 28-year-old soccer talent from Japan's J1 League. According to the CFA's announcement at the beginning of the year, the summer transfer window for this season's Chinese Super League, Chinese First Division and Chinese Second Division opened from July 1st to 30th. However, affected by the epidemic, club investment restrictions and the tight schedule of the Chinese Super League and other factors, the transfer window, the possibility of big money attraction is extremely low, Lopez transfer cases such as in most teams are difficult to find traces of the transfer market in the domestic soccer world into the inevitable trend of cold.
As early as the end of last month, the news that Lopez had come to China to undergo quarantine spread. It is reported that the Wuhan club has been planning this transfer for a long time. Since last season, the team has suffered from "powerlessness" on the offensive end due to Rafael's injury. Although the side players Evra, Baptiste Tang outstanding performance, but the team center position on the strength of Ajin still needs to be improved. In the case of Rafael can not return to the team, the club finally facilitated the transfer of Lopez, for the center position injected new vitality.
The soon-to-be 28-year-old Lopes, who stands at 1.85 meters tall and comes from Brazil's Avai youth system, landed in Asian football in July 2016, when he was loaned out to Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan's J1 League. In one and a half seasons, he made 48 appearances for the team, scoring 13 goals.In February 2018, Lopes was loaned to Seoul FC of South Korea's K1 League, where he made 31 appearances in all competitions over the course of the year, contributing seven goals and five assists.
In January 2019, Lopez joined Gonzaga Sapporo of Hokkaido in Japan's J1 League, making 59 appearances in all competitions over his first two seasons, scoring 25 goals while contributing six assists. Lopez has continued his hot form this season, scoring 12 goals in 14 appearances in the J-League to top the scoring charts, as well as two goals in two cup matches.
From the actual data and information, Lopez is the talent that Wuhan team needs to introduce urgently. Against the backdrop of the CFA's strict enforcement of the club's investment limit and players' salary restriction policy, Lopez's transfer fee will never exceed the limit, and may even be far lower than the club's previous introduction of strong reinforcements.
Nonetheless, most Chinese Super League clubs have struggled to find good value foreigners during this transfer window. The reasons are obvious. On the one hand, due to the continued global spread of the epidemic, restricted international travel conditions, and strict international and domestic quarantine rules, the domestic professional soccer world is far less attractive to quality foreign aid than in the past. From Talisker, Paulinho confirmed to leave the Chinese Super League, Arnautovic return to Europe is a foregone conclusion, Augusto, Baccambu delayed return to Guoan and other situations, some of the Chinese Super League clubs are not only difficult to supplement the new foreign aid, and even face the plight of the original loss of high-quality foreign aid in the middle of the season.
There is another reason why the domestic professional soccer world, especially the Chinese Super League transfer market, is destined to be cold this summer. That's the fact that the Chinese Super League has been torn apart this season following China's qualification for the Qatar World Preliminary Asian Round of 12. After playing the remaining nine rounds of the first phase at a super-high density from July to August, the league will be temporarily suspended in September, October and November to tie in with the national soccer team's preparations for, and participation in, the 12-team tournament. And apart from Asia, the World Qualifiers in the other WFC continental regions are also entering a crucial phase. Similar to Arnautovic such as European players, are eager to represent their national team to hit the World Cup, they do not want to return to the Chinese Super League is understandable. From another point of view, the Chinese Super League for two consecutive seasons using the centralized system and greatly compressed schedule, in fact, including the clubs and other parties to bring a more practical loss, the league brand image also constitute a negative impact. In addition to the championship, relegation, perhaps most of the Chinese Super League clubs at this point in time, the general psychology is to be able to smoothly play this season of the Chinese Super League matches. They naturally do not want to make more meaningless investment, adding their own burden.
It is worth noting that three clubs, Guangzhou, Beijing Guoan, and Shanghai Harbor, are all sending young or substitute lineups to play in this season's AFC Champions League. Although the poor performance of each team will form a negative impact for the next Chinese Super League to fight for the qualification of AFC Champions League in the coming seasons, these clubs are unable to cope with the multiple fronts in the face of such a difficult season. From the AFC Champions League qualification and group stage process, the seaport was blocked out of the main round of the tournament early, while Beijing and Guangzhou, except for Guoan, who barely drew with United City of the Philippines in the first round, lost all the rest of their matches, and there is almost no suspense that the two teams will go out of the group stage.
For these clubs, to the existing power to play the Super League, FA Cup matches, this season even more successful. There is also a point, by the national football team to fight the 12 strong match impact, this season of the Chinese super league facing the end of the year, really, the clubs have to face with about the inner and outer players exchange "overdue" cooperation matters. After all, most of the players of the single-season cooperation period to the end of the year for the time node. From this point of view, it is difficult for clubs to bring in more new recruits, asking for trouble.
This season, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the Preparatory Group of Professional League (PGPL), in order to revitalize the flow of local talents, have purposely relaxed the rules of quota restriction for the introduction of players in the three tiers of professional leagues. Among them, each team in the Chinese Super League can bring in a total of 8 general local players throughout the season, and there is no quota for bringing in U21 local players. The Chinese A and B leagues can introduce local players without quota. However, so far, the three salons transfer market, only the B Qingdao Hainiu introduction of former international player Xiao Zhi is more visible. However, from this year's football environment, similar transfers will not be in the majority. In the context of the league's "turmoil", clubs may pay more attention to internal excavation and exercise young players promoted from their own clubs at the right time.
