Chinese super power’s transfer farce

Arguably the most surprising transfer rumor to hit the Premier League this January is that linking Chelsea midfielder Ramires with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning. According to The Guardian, Ramires is set to join Jiangsu in a deal worth £20 million – surpassing the previous Chinese transfer record of £14 million Shanghai Shanggang just paid for Elkeson to move from Guangzhou Evergrande.

Jiangsu Suning, named after leading electronics retailer Suning, started their venture into football only a couple of years ago. But they seem to be determined to rock the football world.

And they haven’t had to look far for inspiration – Guangzhou Evergrande’s huge success both domestically and across Asia proves just how big an impact top quality foreign players and coaches are capable of making.

Suning began by hiring former Chelsea player Dan Petrescu as their manager and their appetite for European names has only grown from there. Last week, Jiangsu fans screamed with delight as Luiz Adriano, the AC Milan striker, landed in Nanjing ahead of his medical.

He seemed so happy at the time too, donning the club scarf and announcing his arrival via using social media only for the deal to collapse at the last moment. Fingers have since been pointed accusingly in Adriano’s direction with suggestions he demanded a lot more than was originally agreed. But that doesn’t seem likely. Would the 28-year-old Brazilian, who should know all about the success of Elkeson, Dario Conca and Ricardo Goulart in China, really be so greedy as to mess up such a lucrative deal?

As for Ramires, he remains out of favor under Gus Hiddink at Chelsea and has started only seven league games this season – the last of which was the 2-1 defeat at Leicester that proved to be Jose Mourinho’s final game in charge. If the £20 million deal does go through, it would be a great financial coup for the Blues.

But the way Jiangsu and a number of of Chinese football clubs are doing business is something that worries us – big talking and over-promising while displaying little patience. Will Ramires follow in the footsteps of Paulinho, the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder now playing for Guangzhou Evergrande, or will he be the next Luiz Adriano? We’ll wait and see.