HONG KONG: A double blow of the coronavirus and a new salary cap has seen the bottom fall out of Chinese football’s transfer market, while Odion Ighalo led what could become an exodus of foreign stars.
But with wages now capped at €3 million a year, and the Chinese Super League on hold over the coronavirus outbreak, China isn’t the destination it once was. China’s domestic football is indefinitely suspended because of the virus outbreak, which has killed nearly 2,800 people in the country and has now spread around the world.
“You are signing these players with the intention of them playing earlier , and there’s now this delay. The salary cap will not affect existing contracts – SIPG’s attacking midfielder Oscar is one of the best-paid players in the world on a reported €26 million a year. Nine of the 16 sides in the league have not spent a penny, including Fabio Cannavaro’s champions Guangzhou Evergrande, according to transfermarkt.com figures.