Football has been full of mysteries over the past few years, from Leicester City’s remarkable title triumph to Paul Pogba becoming the most expensive player of all time but one of the sport’s greatest enigmas is how Chinese football has become so prosperous.
The nation’s renowned ‘Super League’ has lured talents from across the globe with its big bucks and, although it’s not unheard of for teams outside of Europe to snap up big names by virtue of big wage packages, these Chinese clubs are bringing in players at the peak of their respective careers, not at the end.
The division has already captured the likes of Jackson Martinez, Axel Witsel, Hulk and Oscar. Meanwhile, Carlos Tevez attracted the attention of Shanghai Shenhua, who signed the Argentinian on a £615,000 per week contract, a figure dwarfing the biggest weekly wages in Europe’s top leagues.
Whilst it’s intriguing and refreshing to see a league outside of Europe gain so much media attention and throw their hat into the ring, many football personalities have been quick to warn of its dangers, with Arsene Wenger especially concerned. "That's the danger, that the Chinese offers become the benchmark for Europe. You cannot compete with that," fears the Frenchman.
It’s undoubtedly one of the hottest talking points in the game at present and fans across the globe are anticipating the next big move to China with excitement, but what if that next move was made by one of football’s all-time greatest? What if Lionel Messi moved to the Chinese Super League...
#1 Neymar would become Barcelona’s new poster boy
It’s difficult to engage in a conversation about Barcelona without mentioning Messi; the two are intertwined as one. The Argentine has been at the Catalan club for well over a decade, having scored more than 300 goals in his time there, but the 29-year-old is yet to extend his current contract with the Spaniards which expires in 2018.
Messi claims he wants to see out his existing deal before taking action on his future but the more cynical football fan would view this as a warning that the forward could see out his career elsewhere, perhaps China. The Argentine is currently the core of the continent’s most lethal front-line trio – MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar) and if he were to depart, which would be next year at the earliest, a greater deal of responsibility would be placed on the other two.
The Brazilian Neymar has achieved tremendous things at a relatively young age, having scored almost twice as many goals in his career so far (280) as Cristiano Ronaldo had at the same age (155). His composure and confidence on the ball make spectators forget that at the end he’s still a young boy and he has all the ingredients to supersede Messi as the club’s ‘poster boy’.
Neymar has flair that is superior to any other footballer on the planet, an excellent goal-scoring record and a strong likeability, as underpinned by his influence in Brazil’s 2014 World Cup campaign. If Messi were to leave for China, Barcelona fans would be hurt and looking for a player to confide in; Neymar fits the role perfectly and, if anything, Messi moving would be greatly beneficial for the 25-year-old.
#2 Current highest footballer’s wage would be shattered
Although rumours suggest Barcelona are willing to exceed the £615,00 a week wage Carlos Tevez currently earns when offering Messi a contract extension, the Argentine could be offered an even bigger salary should he make the move to China.
The latest reports claim that Manuel Pellegrini’s side Hebei Fortune are preparing a sensational £500 million bid for Lionel Messi, which is greater than the five current biggest transfers of all time added together. On top of that, Messi would supposedly be given an eye-watering deal of €100 million per year in wages, dwarfing the current highest wage earned by Tevez and altering the financial football landscape forever.
#3 The Champions League wouldn’t be the same again
Europe’s elite club competition may already boast the finest range of players and sides in world football, blended with an exciting format and sense of unpredictability, but the tournament’s trump card, for the last decade at least, has been Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian has not only scored the second highest number of goals in the competition’s history (93), but he is the iconic face of the Champions League having lifted the trophy on four occasions and holding the record as the first player to have scored in two Champions League final matches for the winning team.
It may be a little short-sighted to suggest that a whole tournament’s reputation and integrity will be dealt a blow because of the departure of one player, but not when that one player is Lionel Messi. If the world’s best player is not playing in the Champions League, the tournament loses a layer of reputability.
Messi has been a benchmark for the competition, with iconic moments from the kissing of his boot to his decisive goal at the 2011 final. Messi has always been at the heart of the competition and the Champions League would ultimately be a different contest without him involved.
#4 Chinese football could be taken to another level
However cynical we may be regarding the financial firepower of the Chinese Super League at present and it’s potential to disassemble European football, there’s positivity in the concept of football developing in the Far East. There’s no doubting that the arrival of Messi at Hebei Fortune would really lay down the intentions the league’s members have; they are not merely ridiculously wealthy teams bringing in whatever big name they can left-right-and-centre, they are serious about their football.
Former Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez is seeing out his career with Al Sadd in Qatar, which was a decision labelled as a project rather than a transfer deal. The Spaniard is helping to grow football in the country set to host the 2022 World Cup and Messi would do much the same in China. According to Yutang Sports’ 2015 Broadcast Report, football was China’s most watched sport two years ago, attracting more than one billion views over the course of 2015.
The problem is that the majority of Chinese football fans tune in to watch their favourite Premier League, La Liga or Bundesliga outfit as opposed to the Chinese Super League. That, however, could change if Messi were to join Fortune.
The potential to see the world’s greatest player would draw more and more fans to the matches themselves whilst TV viewership figures would undoubtedly rise. On the pitch, Messi would raise the standard and players become better when they play around talent superior to them, so the overall quality of the league could also see gradual improvements.
Other teams across the Chinese Super League may grow envious of the publicity and success Fortune would receive, increasing the likelihood of other Chinese clubs, armed with the money to do so, attracting even bigger names, potentially leading to Chinese football stamping down a serious marker in world football.
