Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the latest name linked with a mega-money move to the Chinese Super League, and could be set to break transfer and wage records in the process.
Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the 27-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker, who has previously been linked with Manchester City and Real Madrid, is the subject of a €150 million bid from Shanghai SIPG that would net him €41m-a-season in wages.
Dortmund media director Sascha Fligge said in a statement to several German outlets that the club have not received an offer for the 27-year-old, but Watzke refused to comment on whether BVB would be tempted to do business at that price.
“I am not interested in hypothetical things,” Watzke said.
Aubameyang has scored 22 goals in 21 games for Dortmund this season but could miss their next three Bundesliga games because of his participation in the African Nations Cup for hosts Gabon.
The Chinese Super League is turning European football upside down with these large transfer offers. For clubs on the receiving end of these deals like Chelsea, who sold Oscar for to China for probably double what they could get for him from another European team, the money is like a huge cash infusion that they can now use to go out and buy new players.
For upstart leagues like Major League Soccer, they have a new competitor for the aging European player, and MLS cannot compete with China on transfer fees and wages. Which might lead to MLS changing its DP strategy to get younger players like Sebastian Giovinco instead of veterans like Steven Gerrard.
What do you think of the influx of Chinese money into the game?
