Ramires left Chelsea this week, and it is not to Bayern Munich, Juventus or Paris Saint-Germain, three clubs recently linked to the Brazil international.
At 28, and despite beginning only seven Premier League matches this season, the midfielder represents an understandable target for Europe’s sides given his reputation and record. Last season, Ramires featured 23 times in the league for Chelsea, helping the club become champions of England.
He is a footballer of significant substance, hence the reported interest from the reigning champions in Germany, Italy and France.
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However, Ramires was set for Jiangsu Suning, the ninth-best club in last season’s Chinese Super League. From West London to the Far East, worth approximately €28 million (Dh112m) in transfer fee. It is an extraordinary move in what is fast becoming one of football’s most remarkable stories.
The Chinese Super League, already replete with notable names in Paulinho, Asamoah Gyan, Demba Ba, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Sven-Goran Eriksson, this past week added Gervinho, with the Ivory Coast forward signing for Hebei China Fortune, a club who secured promotion to the top flight only in November.
Private beach and helicopter jokes aside, the ability to attract a 28-year-old starter from a leading European side, Roma, underlines the increasing pull of China.
Its appeal appears set only to grow. This month, Nani, Fredy Guarin and Wesley Sneijder have been suggested targets for Shanghai Shenhua. Late Wednesday, Guarin sealed a deal to join from Inter Milan.
Irrespective of the veracity of the other speculation, the list of potential acquisitions demonstrates China’s ambition. It is worrying development for UAE football.
The Arabian Gulf League has made substantial strides since turning professional in 2008, and the past few years have highlighted a welcome shift in transfer policy. For the majority, Emirati clubs have begun to favour young, emerging players with potential, rather than star names. In recent seasons Manuel Lanzini, Fabio de Lima and Everton Ribeiro have excelled.
Yet China’s rise, reflected last November in Guangzhou’s second Asian Champions League success in three years, constitutes a considerable threat. Footballers seeking a change in environment have an attractive alternative, bona fide and bankrolled by big business, backed by president Xi Jinping’s desire to place Chinese football on the map.
That Ribeiro, arguably the AGL’s most accomplished foreign playmaker, currently interests Guangzhou reinforces China’s emergence as an authentic rival to the UAE.
Gyan was a high-profile departure to SIPG last July, but Al Ain were keen to cash in on a striker approaching 30 and increasingly susceptible to injury. Still, Emirati clubs will not compete with weekly salaries believed to be upwards of €300,000 (Dh1.20 million).
China has the resources and the fan base: last season, attendances averaged at 21,800 compared to 2,529 in the AGL. Most importantly, it has the ambition. The CSL already boasts the continental champions; as the capture of Ramires indicates, it is rapidly transforming into Asia’s premier football destination, too.
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