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Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande smashed the Asian transfer record when they signed Colombian striker Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid for 42 million euros (45.8 million dollars).
Guangzhou said in a statement that Martinez has signed a four-year contract and will join his new team on February 9 at a training camp in Dubai after the mandatory medical.
Martinez, 29, had only been at Atletico for six months after a summer move from Porto.
It was the latest big-name signing for the five-times reigning Chinese Super League and twice Asian Champions League winners Guangzhou, following 2015 moves of Brazilians Paulinho and Robinho. In addition, former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is in charge of the team.
Martinez is the biggest transfer to date by the ambitious Chinese clubs. Spending has increased after last year’s signing of a lucrative television deal worth 1.25 billion dollars with broadcasters Ti’ao Dongli.
Chelsea’s Ramirez joined JS Suning recently for a then record 28 million euros, Shanghai Shenhua have signed Senegal’s Demba Ba from Besiktas and Colombian Fredy Guarin from Inter Milan, and Ivory Coast’s Gervinho has left Roma for Hebei China Fortune.
The 2016 season starts on March 3, and the transfer window remains open until February 26.
Super League teams have splashed out an estimated 200 million euros, with only England’s Premier League spending more with an estimated 250 million euros in the window which ended there on Monday.
But China is not only shopping abroad, the nation has also launched a major football development programme in the country’s schools and clubs to boost the game after years of corruption and little success.
The league is to be boosted and even more the national team which has only made the World Cup once, in 2002, and faces an uphill battle to remain in the race for the 2018 edition in Russia.
Chinese President Xi Jinping leads the way as an ardent football fan, with the ultimate aim of hosting a World Cup and winning the showcase tournament. Now to see what happens.
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