Story highlights
Brazil international joins Shanghai SIPG for $61 million
More big names will follow - and could even include Ronaldo
Multi-million dollar investments in January transfer window
It’s soccer’s fastest-growing new power – and now the Chinese Super League (CSL) has shattered its transfer record again.
Zenit St Petersburg star Hulk has joined big-spending Shanghai SIPG for a $61 million fee according to Russian media.
The 29-year-old’s transfer eclipses the $51 million Jiangsu Suning paid Shakhtar Donetsk for Alex Teixeira in February – a move that came after Guangzhou Evergrande had paid $45.8 million for Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez.
He arrives with Shanghai’s former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson under pressure as his side lags behind leaders Guangzhou.
SIPG said around 1,000 fans had gathered at Shanghai’s international airport to welcome Brazil international Hulk when he arrived in the city Wednesday.
But club spokeswoman Yu Chen, speaking to reporters, did not confirm rumors that his contract could be worth more than $60 million.
Hulk struck 56 times in 97 league matches for Zenit and was the Russian Premier League’s top scorer in the 2014-15 season, netting 15 goals.
His arrival continues the trend that saw Chinese clubs spend nearly $150 million on new players before the end of the January transfer window.
As well as Teixera and Martinez, Ramires, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Gervinho moved to China, boosting match attendances and increasing the CSL’s profile at home and overseas.
And according to a leading Chinese soccer official, Hulk could be joined by Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi one day as China casts an eye toward eventually hosting a World Cup.
“I know there are a lot of clubs chasing top players now, and there have been kind of mutual discussions,” Eric Gao, the chief executive of iRENA, a business partner of the CSL, told CNN.
“I think it’s good for the Chinese football industry, but on the other hand I know a lot of Chinese players want to play in England as well – so it goes both ways.”
He said CSL clubs “have a kind of special fund, generally provided by some capital investors, that can target to buy the top players worldwide.”
Read: China’s dream of soccer domination
And, who knows? Those players could, in the fullness of time, include Real Madrid’s Ronaldo or Messi of Barcelona.
“I think it’s possible,” Gao said. “But I do not think Cristiano is for sale – also some of the top players in the Premier League are not for sale.”
And he said China could host a World Cup, adding: “It has the biggest population around the world, the fans love football and probably FIFA has already heard some noise from Chinese fans – anything is possible.”
He said that could happen in the next 10, 20 or 30 years and that “we’d welcome football and welcome the World Cup.”
