Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Ezequiel Lavezzi is the latest and probably the largest name to join the mass Chinese Super League exodus. The 30 Year old Argentinian International has signed for Hebei China Fortune and is set to receive exactly that.
The former PSG Forward is now set to earn an absolutely eye watering £400k a week, that’s right a week. Therefore he will earn over £20m in a space of a single season. This weekly wage now makes him the highest earning player in the world
With Lavezzi out of contract at the end of the season he was reported to be linked with moves to either Inter Milan or Chelsea but he has plumped for the bumper payday in China and when you’re getting that much a week then who c an blame him.
Lavezzi will join Hebei’s other new signings Gervinho, Stephen Mbia and Gael Kakuta who all joined in the past few weeks not to mention talents such as Jackson Martinez and Ramires who have also joined the league in what seems to be a gold rush in the Far East.
The wages are dwarfing anything a European club would be prepared to offer, will this become a growing trend over the next few years. How big can the Chinese Super League really become, for players of Lavezzi’s and Martinez’s calibre surely they are going to have an absolute field day in front of goal against CSL Defences.
The signing of Lavezzi and the size of contract is certainly a statement of intent by Hebei China Fortune and it won’t be the last of his mega signings, whether or not this is all sustainable or the League collapses like a house of cards due to over expenditure remains to be seen. But we’ll certainly watch from interest
Another point about watching, maybe UK TV companies may feel that a singing of the League rights maybe a worthwhile purchase. Could certainly be a schedule filler on BT or Sky Sports. Don’t be surprised if the interest in this League grows in the coming months.
