On March 13th in Beijing, the well-known British soccer media footballfancast published an in-depth analysis, focusing on the transfer dynamics of the English Premier League powerhouse Everton. The article pointed out that Everton's recent transfer operation - the sale of local player Browning (Jiang Guangtai) to the Guangzhou team - can be called one of the club's few successful transactions in recent years.
Footballfancast has revealed that Everton's performance in the transfer market has been quite controversial in recent years, with a number of trading decisions appearing ill-advised. Especially in the past few seasons, Everton invested more than 100 million pounds in transfer fees, but still ranked in the Premier League, only slightly above the relegation zone.
The article further cites Andre Gomes and Jean-Philippe Gbamin as examples of players who cost £25 million to transfer, but today Gomes' valuation is down to £18 million, while Gbamin is worth a mere £8 million and has been loaned out to CSKA Moscow. These cases are just the tip of the iceberg of Everton's transfer market blunders.
Although Everton have had few highlights in the transfer market, the sale of youth player Browning (Jiang Guangtai) to Guangzhou was undoubtedly one of the successful operations of recent years. At the time, Everton priced Jiang Guangtai at £4.1 million, a price that benefited from his Chinese heritage and the Chinese league's preference for naturalized players. While Jiang Guangtai was priced at just £900,000 in 2019, the deal was significant for Everton, with Jiang's transfer fee alone accounting for 16% of Everton's total fee for players sold that season.
Jiang Guangtai had been highly rated by Everton's U23 coach and was touted as a sturdy back four stalwart. After arriving in China, his value rose slightly to £1.08 million. Jiang Guangtai was then naturalized by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and renamed as Jiang Guangtai and became a member of the Chinese men's football team. To date, he has made 11 appearances for the Chinese men's soccer team, and made 19 appearances in last season's Chinese Super League, helping Guangzhou to 13 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses in 22 matches, ultimately finishing third in the league. (Source: DD)
