Messi to Hebei for €100m a year the latest crazy China football rumour – even as state media warns clubs ‘don’t mortgage your future’
People’s Daily rails against the massive sums Chinese Super League clubs are spending on foreign players, but it doesn’t look like any are listening
Chinese state newspaper People’s Daily warned the country’s big-spending football clubs not to “let money mortgage the future” on Friday – even as superstar Lionel Messi was being linked with a €500 million move to Hebei.
The lengthy article in the government-run daily could be seen as an indicator officials are worried the Chinese Super League’s spending is getting out of hand.
Even before the transfer window opens on January 1, huge deals to bring South American players Oscar and Carlos Tevez to Shanghai are reportedly all but done. The transfer fee to bring Chelsea’s Oscar to Shanghai SIPG has been reported as €60 million, while Tevez will reportedly be paid as much as €40 million a season by Shanghai Shenhua.
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Messi is currently in negotiations with Barcelona over a new deal, and it is likely the rumour is nothing more than a bargaining ploy – but given the crazy sums spent by Chinese clubs, nothing seems too outlandish to rule out.
