Over the last few years, China has been attracting some of the biggest names in football to their clubs. With the ludicrous amounts of money being splashed around in the Chinese Super League, the teams can offer players extremely tempting and lucrative offers. If the league is able to keep attracting top talents over the next few years, it’s only a matter of time before the Chinese Super League becomes one of the top domestic football leagues in the world.
The Asian country has become a popular destination for many South American (most notably Brazilian) players including many who are part of the national team setup. Many top European players have also moved to the club in recent years with the transfer of Italian forward Graziano Pelle being one of the biggest ones. The Italian did not command a huge transfer fee, but he is now one of the highest-paid players in the world thanks to the Chinese Super League.
Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at 20 of the best players to have graced the Chinese Super League with their presence.
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20 – Alex Teixeira
Alex Teixeira Santos began his professional career at Brazilian club Vasco Da Gama, making his senior debut at the age of 18. He spent two years in the senior squad, getting relegated to the Serie B and then winning promotion back to the top division the following year. In December of 2009, he was snapped up by Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. In his first season in Ukraine, the forward made only three appearances and won the Ukrainian Premier League. In his second season he made 39 appearances and scored 6 goals as Shakhtar Donetsk won the treble that year. He went on to win quite a few trophies with the club and finished as joint top scorer in the 2014/15 season with 17 goals.
In January 2016, Liverpool FC expressed strong interest in the Brazilian, and the player himself made it clear that he wished to join the Merseyside club. However, Shakhtar Donetsk rejected Liverpool’s bid of around £25m, selling him instead to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning for £42.5m. The 26-year-old has netted 9 times so far in 23 appearances for his new club.
19 – Jackson Martinez
Jackson Arley Martinez Valencia currently plays for Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao and the Colombian national team. He began his career with Colombian club Independiente Medellin in the Categoria Primera A, the top division of Colombian football. He spent five seasons there, leading them to the domestic league title and finishing as top scorer in his last season, 2009. He then signed for Mexican side Chiapas from the Liga MX. He played for them till 2012, captaining the side and scoring over 30 goals in his final season.
In July 2012 Martinez signed for Portuguese club FC Porto. He had a truly sensational debut season in Portugal, finishing as top scorer and helping his side win their third league title in a row, as well as winning the Portuguese Super Cup. He played for Porto for three years, amassing a staggering 67 goals in just 90 appearances. He then had a short six-month spell at Atletico Madrid before joining Guangzhou Evergrande in February 2016 for £35.7m. The 29-year-old has picked up 3 goals in 8 appearances so far.
18 – Fredy Guarin
Fredy Alejandro Guarin Vasquez began his playing career with Colombian club Envigado FC, from where he was loaned out to Argentinian club Boca Juniors and then French side AS Saint-Etienne. After spending the 2006/07 season on loan at AS Saint-Etienne, the club made a permanent deal with the player, signing a four-year contract. However, he would only play with them for a year, as in July 2008, Fredy Guarin put pen to paper on a four-year contract with Portuguese giants FC Porto. He was used primarily as a substitute, but he made some important contributions to the team, making 63 appearances and scoring 11 goals. In his time with Porto, Guarin won the Taca de Portugal, the Primeira Liga as well as the UEFA Europa League.
In 2012 Guarin went to Inter Milan on a loan deal with the option to make the move permanent. The Nerazzurri were impressed with the Colombian and made the deal a permanent one just four months into his loan. In the January transfer window of 2014, Guarin was meant to transfer to Juventus in an exchange deal involving Mirko Vucinic, but the move didn’t go through, as the clubs couldn’t come to an agreement. There was some discontent following that, but the 30-year-old stayed on for another two years, making 108 appearances for the club. In January 2016 Guarin officially became a Shanghai Shenhua player. So far he has made 20 appearances for the Chinese side, notching up three goals.
17 – Obafemi Martins
Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins is a Nigerian national team footballer who began playing with Italian Serie C side AC Reggiana, where his performances caught the eye of Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri secured his signature in 2001, and he stayed on at the San Siro stadium for five years, scoring 28 times in 88 games. He was sold to Newcastle United in 2006, owing to the arrivals of Hernan Crespo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He stayed on at Newcastle for three years, until they got relegated.
In 2009 the forward signed with Bundesliga champions VFL Wolfsburg. Following one season in Germany, he made the move to defending Russian champions Rubin Kazan. The birth of his child prompted him to request a move to England to be closer to his family, which he was granted. He joined Premier League side Birmingham City on loan for one year. The Nigerian then had a short spell at Levante before spending three successful years in the MLS playing for Seattle Sounders. In February 2016, Martins officially signed for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, where he has netted five times in 17 appearances.
16 – Paulinho
Jose Paulo Bezerra Maciel Junior had short spells playing for some lesser known clubs in Lithuania, Poland, Brazil and Italy before finally attracting the envious glances of Brazilian giants Corinthians. He spent three years with Corinthians during which he scored 20 goals in 86 games. The Brazilian won various honours at the club, including the 2011 Brasileirao, the 2012 Copa Libertadores and also the Club World Cup that same year.
In July 2013 Tottenham Hotspur signed the Brazilian midfielder for what was then a record transfer fee for them at £16.77m. However, that record was broken twice in the very same transfer window with the arrivals of Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela. The 28-year-old made 45 appearances for the Spurs, finding the back of the net six times. After two seasons at White Hart Lane, Paulinho made a move to Guangzhou Evergrande in a deal worth £11.90m. He’s made 37 appearances for the team, hitting the target seven times.
15 – Gervinho
Gervais Lombe Yao Kouassi is an Ivory Coast national team and Hebei China Fortune player. He began his senior career with two seasons at the now defunct Belgian side Beveren. He then moved to France to play two seasons each for Ligue 1 teams Le Mans and Lille. In his second season with Lille he scored 18 goals, 15 of which came in Ligue 1. That year they won the Ligue 1 title, bringing and end to a drought that lasted 56 years.
After his successful spell at Lille, the forward was linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world like Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid. The Ivorian signed for Arsenal in 2011. He made his debut for the club in a friendly against 1. FC Koln, bagging a brace for himself within 15 minutes. He got a red card in his Premier League debut against Newcastle United for striking Joey Barton in the face. He made 46 appearances for the Gunners over two seasons before transferring to AS Roma. After two seasons in Italy, the 29-year-old moved to newly promoted Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune, where he has scored three goals in 10 games.
14 – Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento started off playing at Joinville Esporte Clube in Brazil. After one season in their senior team he made a move to another Brazilian side, Cruzeiro. His trademark work ethic, willingness to run, and indefatigable energy caught the attention of Portuguese giants Benfica, and the club snapped him up in May of 2009 for a transfer fee of £6.38m. He played a vital role throughout that season, in which Benfica won their 32nd league title after a five-year wait. They also won the Taca da Liga that season.
In August 2010 Benfica agreed on a deal with English Premier League champions, Chelsea. The Brazilian arrived at Stamford bridge and was initially played on the wings. His first season at the club was a flop, but things turned around when he finally started playing as a central defensive midfielder. Ramires went on to become an established first team player and won every major domestic and European trophy during his time at Chelsea. He played a crucial role in Chelsea’s Champions League triumph by scoring a tie deciding away goal at Nou Camp in the second leg of the semifinal. After six years at the club, the 29-year-old made a move to Jiangsu Suning of the Chinese Super League for a then record transfer fee of £25m. He has scored 4 goals in 16 outings for the club.
13 – Burak Yilmaz
Burak Yilmaz is a striker who currently plays for the Turkey national team and Beijing Guoan. He has played for all four of the big clubs in Turkey - Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Trabzonspor and Galatasaray. The 31-year-old began his career at Antalyaspor, helping the club win promotion to the Super Lig in the 2005/06 Division 1 season. He transferred to Besiktas in the summer of 2006, where he won the Turkish Cup with them and finished second in the domestic league. He suffered a dramatic dip in form in the 2007/08 season, following which he was sold to Manisaspor and then Fenerbahce. His time at Fenerbahce was a failure, having made only six appearances and failing to score a single goal.
Yilmaz then transferred to Trabzonspor, where he helped them win their first ever Turkish Super Cup in history, and also finished as top scorer in one of his two seasons there with 19 goals in 30 games. From there the striker signed for Galatasaray, where he made 105 appearances over four years, beating the keeper on 65 occasions. In February 2016, Galatasaray announced that Burak Yilmaz had come to an agreement with Beijing Guoan. The forward has played 10 games for the Chinese club, scoring four times.
12 – Renato Augusto
Renato Soares de Oliveira Augusto, known simply as Renato Augusto, currently plays for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League. He was a member of the Brazil squad that just recently made history by winning a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics by beating Germany in the final. He has also made 13 appearances for the senior national team. The 28-year-old also participated in the Copa America Centenario, in which Brazil were humiliated by being knocked out in the very first round.
The midfielder kicked off his career at Brazilian club Flamengo. He spent three years there before going to Germany for four years to play for Bayer Leverkusen and then making a return to Brazil after signing a four-year contract with Corinthians. After leading Corinthians to the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A title, he confirmed a move to Chinese club Beijing Guoan in January 2016. He has so far made 15 appearances for his new club, notching up two goals to his name.
11 – Papiss Cisse
Papiss Demba Cisse kicked off his senior career at Senegalese club AS Douanes Dakar. He had a hugely prolific season for them, managing to find the back of the net 23 times in just 26 appearances. The striker then moved to French team Metz, from where he was loaned out to Cherbourg and Chateauroux. In December of 2009, he secured a permanent deal with German Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. In the 2010/11 season Cisse scored 22 goals, which was a single-season goal record by a Freiburg player, as well as the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single Bundesliga season.
After three seasons in Germany, the Senegalese international made a move to Newcastle United. He spent four years at Saint James’ Park, making 117 appearances for the club and scoring 37 goals in that time. In July 2016 Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng announced that they signed Cisse for an undisclosed fee. He has made 7 appearances for the club and has two goals to his name.
10 – Hulk
Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, better known as Hulk, is currently playing in China for Shanghai SIPG. The Brazilian is quite solidly built for a footballer, but he was given the nickname because of his resemblance to actor Lou Ferrigno, who played the character of the incredible Hulk in a TV show during the 1970s. He started his career in Brazil with Esporte Clube Vitoria and then went to Japan on loan with second division teams Consadole Sapporo and Tokyo Verdy. The winger made a move to FC Porto in 2008, where he established himself as a regular first-team starter. Hulk struck 54 goals in 99 outings for the club and made a name for himself there, as he was named in the Top Ten Rising Stars list by UEFA.
In September 2012 the winger signed for Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. He spent four years there, winning the domestic league title with them, and his performances in the Champions League earned him a spot in UEFA’s top eleven players in the 2015/16 Champions League group stage. In July 2016 the 30-year-old transferred to Shanghai SIPG in a move worth £47.43m. Owing to an injury, he has only made two appearances for the club, scoring twice.
9 – Demba Ba
Demba Ba had unsuccessful trials at Lyon, Auxerre, Barnsley, Swansea City and Gillingham before signing with French club Rouen in 2005. He had a massive impact there, scoring 22 goals in 26 appearances. Belgian side Mouscron managed to secure his signature for the following season before he went on to play for 1899 Hoffenheim, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Besiktas before finally joining Shanghai Shenhua.
Ba has maintained a great goals to games ratio throughout his career. His least prolific spell was at Chelsea, where he hit the back of the net just 7 times in 33 games as third choice behind Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o. The Senegalese international joined Shanghai Shenhua on a three-year deal in June 2015. He’s scored 20 goals in 29 appearances for the club. The striker suffered a horrific injury in a game against rivals Shanghai SIPG, breaking his leg as it twisted under him during a fall. At the time it looked like it may have been a career-ending injury, but after surgery, the player is expected to return to action in a few months.
8 – Graziano Pelle
Italian striker Graziano Pelle currently plies his trade at Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng. The forward could’ve become a professional dancer, having won a national level under-12 ballroom dancing championship while partnered with his sister, but he chose to focus on football. He started his career at Lecce, for whom his father also played as a striker in Serie C. He was then loaned out to some lower league Italian clubs before making a permanent move to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. After four years at AZ he moved to Parma, from where he was loaned to Sampdoria and then Feyenoord, where he went back on a permanent contract.
Pelle secured a move to Southampton in July 2014, where he was once again playing under his former coach Ronald Koeman. He scored 23 goals in two seasons with the club. The 31-year-old became the fifth highest paid footballer in the world on signing a contract with the club worth £13.5m per season. He has already scored 3 goals in his first 6 appearances for the club.
7 – Seydou Keita
Seydou Keita began his professional career at French club Olympique Marseille. He then signed for Ligue 2 side FC Lorient, playing a vital role in their winning promotion to Ligue 1. The following season he suffered from some injury issues and wasn’t able to have the same impact, resulting in the team’s relegation. Keita then made a move to another French side Lens, where he played for five years, even going on to captain the side. In July 2007, Keita signed for Spanish team Sevilla, where he was a regular starter.
In May of 2008 the Malian transferred to FC Barcelona. He spent four years with the Catalan giants, winning a total of 14 titles with them. In 2012, Keita announced that he would no longer be a Barcelona player, and made a move to Chinese Super League side Dalian Aerbin. He spent just one season there, scoring 10 times in 37 games. Keita then returned to Spain for a very brief spell with Valencia, before moving to Italy to play two seasons for AS Roma. The 36-year-old midfielder is now at Qatari side El Jaish, where he has a six-month deal.
6 – Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Sebastien Anelka started his senior career at Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 16 years. He would go on to don the jerseys of a total of twelve different clubs during his career. From PSG he made a move to Arsenal and then to Real Madrid. The Frenchman then returned to PSG, where after one season he was loaned out to Liverpool. He then went on to play at Manchester City, Fenerbahce and Bolton Wanderers before arriving at Chelsea. Stamford Bridge was the only place where Anelka stayed for more than 2 years. Chelsea was also the only club for which the striker made more than 100 appearances. He scored 38 goals in 125 appearances between 2008 and 2012.
Anelka joined Shanghai Shenhua from Chelsea on a free transfer on 1st January 2012, claiming that he did not receive any good enough offers from any clubs to stay within Europe. He played at the club for one season, scoring 3 goals in 22 appearances, and also played a coaching role. On departing Shanghai Shenhua he had a loan spell at Juventus before playing for West Bromwich Albion and then Mumbai FC. Anelka’s aggregate transfer fees throughout his career comes to a staggering total of £108.26m.
5 – Robinho
Robson de Souza, more often referred to as Robinho, had spells at Santos, Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan before he made the move to China to play for Guangzhou Evergrande. He was tipped for greatness at just 15 years old, when Brazil’s legend Pele picked the boy out as his successor. Unfortunately, as we all know, he wouldn’t quite reach the lofty expectations many had of him.
After his third spell at Santos in 2015 came to an end, the Brazilian was without a club. In July of that year, Guangzhou Evergrande announced that they had officially signed Robinho as a free agent. His contract would last only six months, but the 32-year-old won the Chinese Super League that season, making 10 appearances and scoring 3 goals for the club before the expiration of his contract. In February of 2016 Robinho signed a two-year deal with Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro, where he is currently playing.
4 – Ezequiel Lavezzi
Ezequiel Lavezzi began his senior career at Argentinian clubs Estudiantes and San Lorenzo before earning a move to Italian side Napoli SSC in 2007, just after the club regained promotion to Serie A. Lavezzi quickly became a fan favourite in Italy, winning the affection of the supporters with his slick feet and great work ethic. Over five years at Napoli the Argentine scored 38 goals in 156 appearances.
In July 2012, French giants Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Lavezzi on a four-year deal. The winger scored 22 goals in 107 outings in the PSG shirt, many of them crucial at various points of Ligue 1 and the Champions League. The 31-year-old played an important role for PSG in securing three back to back Ligue 1 titles. Lavezzi then made a move to the Chinese Super League with Hebei China Fortune on a two-year deal, rejecting huge clubs like Inter Milan, Chelsea and Manchester United in the process. His reported salary of £400,000 makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world. Lavezzi has made 10 appearances for the club and is yet to score his first goal for them.
3 – Asamoah Gyan
In 2011 Sunderland sent Asamoah Gyan out on loan to UAE club Al-Ahli. Gyan became a huge success there, winning the title with his club, and in the process scoring 24 times in 27 games to claim the league’s top scorer award. He returned on a permanent deal the following season, retaining the title and finishing as top scorer again with 28 goals in 32 games. In his final season with the club, the Ghana captain scored a ridiculous 44 goals in 40 games.
Gyan then left the UAE to join Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League. His transfer fee was undisclosed, but his paycheck of £227,000 per week was very much public knowledge. The 30-year-old beat the keeper on 7 occasions in 20 games for Shanghai SIPG, and has now returned on loan once more to Al-Ahli in the UAE.
2 – Tim Cahill
The Australian captain joined Shanghai Shenhua in 2015, after leaving MLS side New York Red Bulls by mutual agreement. He scored 11 goals in 28 appearances for Shanghai Shenhua, but less than a year after joining, he announced the mutual termination of his contract after being told that he wasn’t part of the new manager’s plans.
The 36-year-old then signed for another Chinese side Hangzhou Greentown, for whom he netted 4 times in 17 appearances. In July 2016 Cahill was released by the club, just four months since making his debut. The former Everton regular has now signed a 3-year contract with Melbourne City, where he intends to stop playing and take on a directing role in the final year of the contract. Cahill is the top scorer for his country with 48 strikes in 92 appearances.
1 – Didier Drogba
The former Chelsea legend began his senior career at French Ligue 2 club Le Mans. He then went on to play for two more French clubs, Guingamp and Olympique de Marseille before finally moving to the English Premier League in 2004 to play for Chelsea, where he made his name as one of the best strikers in world football.
In his first season at Stamford Bridge, Drogba helped Chelsea win the league cup and their first Premier League title in 50 years. The following year Chelsea successfully defended the Premier League title, with Drogba scoring 12 times in the league. He played in the blue jersey until 2012, when he joined Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua. Drogba was among the first big name players to go to China and helped put the Super League on the world football map alongside another former Chelsea striker, Nicolas Anelka. The Ivory Coast man scored 8 goals in 11 appearances for Shanghai Shenhua before playing for Galatasaray and then making a return to Chelsea. He currently plays in the MLS for Montreal Impact.
