Football, the very beautiful game, is and will always be a game of entertainment as well as teams fighting for various accolades and bragging rights. However, nowadays, we see more than often talented players and others heading to a very low profile league just for the cash in their pockets, throwing away every opportunity of them blossoming in the top flights among Europe elites.
You see stars of the future and current football gems leaving a big team in Europe for a very low profile team in China because that is where the money flows without stop, or maybe that’s what suits their style of football? We never know. In this article, we look at five Brazilians who currently shoot the ball in the giant Asian country.
Once a Brazilian sensation, Hulk was one Samba wonder the world enjoyed seeing. His aggressiveness in attack and his quite trademark powerful shot caught the eye of a lot of football fans. Hulk did wonders for Portuguese Giants Porto where he scored 77 goals in 170 outings before moving to Russia where he banged another 77 playing 22 games less.
A lot of big teams sought Hulk’s service including Chelsea but the player decided to join China outfit Shanghai SIPG for £45 million with a reported salary of £16.6 million a year making him one of the highest paid Sportsmen. He is doing quite well in China and has scored 52 goals in 87 outings.
One of the first big names to move to the Chinese League is Brazilian Paulinho Bezzera. During his time in the Brazil League with Corinthians the midfielder impressed to the extent he caught the eye of English club Tottenham Hotspurs who signed him for around £17 million, the club’s record transfer fee at that time. He starred in 45 League games for Spurs before moving to Guangzhou Evergrande in 2015 for €14 million.
In August 2017 Barca signed him for €40 million before returning on loan to Guangzhou Evergrande after a season with a mandatory buy option which was triggered in January 2019 for €42 million. From the Midfield position the player has managed a whooping 13 goals in just 19 games during his second spell in the Chinese Super League and is now a fan favourite.
Oscar, probably the biggest name among our list, was loved by a lot of Chelsea fans during his time in England as he was putting up quality performances on a regular basis after joining from Internacional for around €25 million. He had four amazing years with Chelsea before making a big money move to Shanghai SIPG in 2016 for a fee reported to be around £60 million where he has featured in 79 games scoring 25 times.
Another Brazilian, Alex Teixeira, also moved to China in 2016 after spending seven seasons in Ukraine with Giants Shakhtar Donetsk. Alex Teixeira joined Jiangsu Suning for a fee of €50 million after Shakhtar had reportedly rejected an offer from Liverpool worth €32 million. Teixeira scored on his competitive debut for Jiangsu in a 3–2 win over Jeonbuk Motors in the AFC Champions League in March 2016 and has since been a star for his side, netting 45 times in just over 100 appearances.
Another Brazilian that moved to China is former Chelsea Midfielder Ramires. The star joined the English giant from Benfica in August 2010, made a name, became loved by the fans but then couldn’t resist a four-year contract offer from Jiangsu Suning for a transfer fee worth £25 million. Ramires was sent off in his debut and unfortunately for him he’s not been heard about in China not close to how he was popular during his time in Europe. He’s having a hard time and featured just once in 2018 for his club.
These five Brazilians are still currently plying their trade in China after being really successful during their times in European football. Aside these Brazilians, some other high profile talents have also made their way out of Europe to play in China, these include Yannick Carrasco, Jackson Martinez and Cedrick Bakambu.
This post was last modified on January 29, 2019 1:37 pm
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