China will put limits on the wild sums its clubs are spending on international football players, authorities said yesterday, days after the transfer window opened and the Asian record was promptly smashed. In an interview posted on the General Administration of Sport, an unnamed spokesman said the government would "regulate and restrain high-priced signings, and make reasonable restrictions on players' high incomes".
The statement came days after Shanghai SIPG recruited Brazilian star Oscar from Chelsea in a 60-million-euro ($63 million) deal that broke the Asian transfer record. Carlos Tevez, Argentina's former Manchester United and Manchester City striker, was lured to rival Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua in another big-money deal.
Tevez's transfer fee was 10.5 million euros, according to the website transfermarkt.com, which tracks football transfers, and the 32-year-old is reportedly set to become the highest-paid player in the world with a two-year contract of 38 million euros per season. Oscar's deal with Shanghai SIPG is thought to be 24 million euros a season - which would still put him above Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of Barcelona. Last year Chinese teams broke the Asian transfer record four times in an acquisition spree that outstripped even the mega-rich English Premier League.
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