Livida Sport: A Global Guide to Football Transfers - Second Edition - Manual / Resource - Page 83
China
Chinese Super League
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For a brief period, the Chinese Super League looked set to redefine the landscape of
world football. As the Chinese President's enthusiasm for the sport became well-known,
the country’s business magnates invested significant sums of money into acquiring top
talent for the Chinese Super League. Notable signings in the past include Oscar, who
signed in 2017 for £60m and stayed for 7 years, winning multiple titles with Shanghai
Port FC.
Significant investments were also made in foreign clubs, alongside efforts to naturalise
players to strengthen the national team. At its peak, the league attracted an audience of
700 million viewers. However, the market experienced a sharp decline before the
pandemic and has yet to fully recover. Despite this, China's potential in football remains
significant and worth monitoring closely.
What are the foreign player rules?
Because the impetus behind the growth of football in China was as much about national
team success as domestic club success, there are tight restrictions on foreign players.
Each club is allowed to register a maximum of seven foreign players in their squad
during a season. However, only five of those players can be on the pitch at any given
time. Goalkeepers must be Chinese.
The league has implemented strict salary caps to limit spending and ensure sustainable
growth. Domestic players' salaries are capped at ¥5million (around €650k), while foreign
players cannot earn more than €3million.
To ward against the overspending of previous years, clubs are required to contribute a
tax to the Chinese Football Association if they spend over ¥45million (around €6m) on
acquiring a foreign player or ¥20million (around €2.6m) on a domestic player.
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