After over 300 million euros transfer spending
China’s league dominator Guangzhou has been relegated
Guangzhou FC has been relegated. An embarrassment for the club, which has released over 300 million euros for transfers in recent years – but no surprise. It is emblematic of all Chinese football.
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The golden days of Fabio Cannavaro and Co. at Guangzhou FC are over.
Nicholas HorniRingier journalism student
Tuesday afternoon in China. The once-hyped Guangzhou FC lost 4-1 at home to Changchun Yatai. With the smack against the twelfth in the table, the saving 15th place in the table finally gets out of reach and you have to say goodbye to the lower-class Chinese League One for the coming season.
Team now worth less than Yverdon
For Guangzhou FC, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande, falling into the second division of China is an embarrassment beyond compare. In the last twelve years, over 300 million euros have been spent on transfers with the help of the real estate company Evergrande, which has meanwhile gotten into financial difficulties.
Although the club from the 15-million-inhabitant metropolis still took almost 110 million euros through player sales – ultimately there is a huge hole in the wallet. Because in addition to the 300 million transfer expenses, the often European and South American players were also lured with astronomically high wages.
The millions paid off sportingly. In eleven years they have won eight championships in China’s top division. But after the last championship title, things went downhill for the former Chinese Super League superiority. According to “transfermarkt.com”, the entire squad now only has a market value of 3.3 million euros – almost a million less than Yverdon, bottom of the Challenge League market value. With the relegation now certain, the “Chelsea of China” is in a shambles.
The top transfers of the Chinese Super League
- Oscar – 60 million euros, Shanghai Port
- Hulk – 55.8 million euros, Shanghai Port
- Alex Teixeira – €50m, Jiangsu FC
- Paulinho – €42m, Guangzhou FC
- Jackson Martinez – €42m, Guangzhou FC
- Cédric Bakambu – €40m, Beijing Guoan
- Yannick Carrasco – 30 million euros, Dalian professional
- Anthony Modeste – €29m, Tianjin Tianhai
- Ramires – €28m, Jiangsu FC
- Marko Arnautovic – €25m, Shanghai Port
- Oscar – 60 million euros, Shanghai Port
- Hulk – 55.8 million euros, Shanghai Port
- Alex Teixeira – €50m, Jiangsu FC
- Paulinho – €42m, Guangzhou FC
- Jackson Martinez – €42m, Guangzhou FC
- Cédric Bakambu – €40m, Beijing Guoan
- Yannick Carrasco – 30 million euros, Dalian professional
- Anthony Modeste – €29m, Tianjin Tianhai
- Ramires – €28m, Jiangsu FC
- Marko Arnautovic – €25m, Shanghai Port
Guangzhou is representative of the bursting football hype
The club’s decline is also emblematic of the entire Chinese league. Dazzling names like Tevez, Yaya Touré, Hulk or trainers like Felix Magath and Rafael Benitez once moved to the Middle Kingdom. There they should make football bigger, more popular and, above all, more profitable. The whole league just threw money around, paid transfer fees and wages without any measure. There was a real boom, in China people dreamed of becoming world champions. In order to please the President, the extremely wealthy entrepreneurs open their wallets to the football clubs.
Then in 2019 the bang. The sponsor of the generous Jiangsu FC is withdrawing and the club is shutting down due to high debts. Other clubs are also struggling with financial problems, the once football-loving government of Xi Jinping is no longer interested in football, has decided against a financial rescue package and has thus plunged the entire sport in the Far East into a deep crisis – from which it is difficult to emerge will ever recover. (hon)
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These famous coaches were in China – Fabio Capello: Milan, Real Madrid, Milan again, Roma, Juve, Real again, then England and Russia. And finally Jiangsu Suning from June 2017 to March 2018.