The appointment of Slaven Bilic as Beijing Guoan manager this week would be the exception, not the rule. Recognized names in football would no longer arrive as often in China, where Super League leaders announced measures to cut club spending.
Bilic was sacked in December by West Bromwich Albion of the English Premier League. The Croatian strategist now follows in the footsteps of other renowned coaches, such as Marcello Lippi and Luiz Felipe Scolari, who arrived in the league with more economic resources in Asia.
Both Lippi and the Brazilian Felipão have been world champions.
“Coming to China to direct is a great challenge, and this is what I hope,” said Bilic. “China has always been an attractive place. Of course, the financial situation is also important, but in my opinion, the most important thing is the size of the club. Beijing is a great team and I have also won a great contract. ”
However, such deals no longer look as lucrative as they used to. In the winter transfer period of 2017, the Chinese Super League was the one that spent the most in the world, with disbursements of 450 million dollars in transfers, much more than the 292 million disbursed by the English Premier League, the second with the most resources .
A new salary cap announced in December seeks to leave similar amounts in the past. Chinese Super League clubs will only be able to pay national players a maximum amount of 5 million yuan ($ 774,000) annually, while foreign players will not be able to earn more than 3 million euros ($ 3.69 million).
Clubs breaking the rules could be sentenced to relegation.
And there have been no signings of prominent figures heading into the 2021 season, which is scheduled to start in March by authorities. Astros like Graziano Pelle and Hulk, former selections of Italy and Brazil respectively, left after the 2020 season, due to their contracts expiring.
Brazilian star Alex Teixeira has been left without a contract after helping Jiangsu Suning win the 2020 title. Faced with the slim chance that other Chinese clubs can afford Teixeira’s salary, he is expected to emigrate to Saudi Arabia.
According to local press reports, Shanghai SIPG is looking to get rid of their Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic, placing him in a European club. The former West Ham striker would earn 6 million euros a year (7.36 million dollars).
Oscar, his partner on that team, would make $ 23 million each year.
Chinese soccer bosses, who will expand the league from 16 to 18 teams by 2023, want clubs to get more value for their money. They have mentioned as an example the leagues of two neighboring countries, South Korea and Japan, which are perceived as more successful in sports.
“The expenses of the Chinese Super League are about 10 times higher than those of the K League of South Korea, and three times those of the J League of Japan, but our national team is far behind,” Chen Xuyuan lamented in December, President of the Chinese Football Federation.
The current FIFA ranking places Japan as the best country in Asia in terms of clubs, 27th in the world. South Korea ranks 38th and China 75th.
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