China flexing its financial muscle

We have become accustomed to the English Premier league carrying the January transfer window in recent years as English sides swim in increasing levels of money. However this January there has been something of a change in that regard. Instead of England spending ludicrous sums of money this month, its China. China has been carrying this transfer window in terms of signing players for big money but it isn't exactly brand new.
China and Shanghai in particular hit the headlines back in 2012 with the signing of Didier Drogba from Chelsea who were just after winning the champions league thanks to Drogba's spot kick. Drogba joined former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka at the club and this was seen as a major coup for Shanghai and China as Drogba was rumored at the time to have had plenty of offers stateside as well as within Europe. Shanghai also dipped their toes into Argentine football to bring in Giovanni Moreno from Racing. The transfer of Drogba to China was preceded in 2011 by the announcement that Guangzhou Evergrande were making their Argentine recruit from Brazilian side Fluminense, Dario Conca, the third highest paid player in the world after Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Drogba was to spend six months in the Chinese Super league before heading to Galatasaray while Moreno still remains at Shanghai. However the club name is no longer the same. When Drogba signed they were under the name of Shanghai Shenhua but after the 2014 purchase of the club by the Greenland Holding Group Company Limited are now known as Shanghai Greenland Shenhua.
Shanghai aren't the only club to have changed names or indeed owners in recent times. The clubs from Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangsu and Beijing have all undergone various name changes and ownership changes in recent times. The Chinese football landscape has changed so much in the past few years that the dominate force of the last decade, Dalian Shide are no longer in existence. In 2012 the eight time champions were purchased by the Aerbin group and merged with Dalian Aerbin. Aerbin have also since gone on to change ownership and today are known as Dalian Yifang after a takeover in 2015. Confused? well it all changed so fast.

The Chinese super league as it stands operates a quota system in terms of foreign players. Each of the sixteen teams can only have five foreign players in the squad. Of those five places, four can be made up with players from outside of Asia with the other place reserved for foreign Asian players. Only four foreign players including the foreign Asian player can take the field at any time in the league. With this in mind the clubs are looking to utilize those foreign player places with big names.

Roma's Gervinho is the latest linked
source: Tedeschi

This January is probably the greatest example of the Chinese clubs flexing their muscles on household names. Just this week it has emerged that Roma's key Ivorian attacker Gervinho is indeed having negotiations with the appropriately named Hebei China Fortune. The transfer fee involved is being speculated by some to be around €15 million which would represent a nice profit for Roma on the €8 million they spent to sign him. Hebei are reportedly the second Chinese club to be after Gervinho after Jiangsu Suning were rumored to be in the market for him late last week along with Inter Milan's Freddy Guarín. Jiangsu have since turned their attention elsewhere as we will see.
Today's big transfer story has been Chelsea's Ramires being set for a move to Jiangsu. €25 million is the figure being speculated as the transfer fee which if true shows how well backed some of these clubs really are.
Some of the other names from Europe being linked this week that I have seen in various reports are Newcastle's Cheick Tioté, Manchester City's Yaya Touré, Dani Alves at Barcelona and John Obi Mikel of Chelsea.
It's not just Europe that Chinese clubs are looking at strengthening from. Since the new year, Brazilian side Corinthians have been raided for their best players. Renato Augusto, Ralf, Jadson, Gil have departed for Chinese clubs from the Brazilian champions. One of which is 2nd tier side Tianjin Quanjian which goes to show it isn't just the super league that is flush with cash.
Clubs are also recruiting from other traditionally stronger Asian leagues such as South Korea's K-League and Australia's A-League.

All these latest players coming into the league are adding to the impressive list of some of the players already plying their trade within Chinese borders. Brazilians seem to be the player of choice as the likes of Robinho, formally of AC Milan, Manchester City and Real Madrid is now at Guangzhou, Paulinho formally of Tottenham is Robinho's teammate and Brazil striker Diego Tardelli is with Shangdong Luneng. It's not just Brazilians, Australia's world cup hero Tim Cahill is with Shanghai Greenland Shenhua having joined last season. Cahill is teammates with Demba Ba formally Newastle's star striker and former Liverpool holding midfielder Mohammed Sissoko.

Sven Göran Eriksson with Guanzhou these days

As if players weren't enough, Chinese clubs are also going after big name managers. Today you will find former England and Lazio head coach Sven Göran Eriksson managing Shanghai SIPG (Shanghai international port group), Brazil's 2002 world cup winning coach Luiz Felipe-Scolari is in charge of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, Dan Petrescu formally of Chelsea in his playing days is with Jiangsu Suning. Marcelo Lippi, Italy's world cup winning coach in 2006 was with Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao until 2014 when he won the Chinese super league three times in a row and also delivered the AFC champions league in 2013.

With just under a week to go in the European transfer window don't be too shocked to see more Chinese clubs making headlines going after some of the big names edging for moves and better salaries.