Pellè is just the latest European star to move to China in recent times after Alex Teixeira (£42m), Jackson Martínez (£35m) and Ramires (£23m) all had their heads turns by the eye watering money on offer in the world’s fasted-growing league.
Managers, too, have been swayed. Sven-Göran Eriksson, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Felix Magath, all of whom have managed in the Premier League, currently coach Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shandong respectively.
But the emergence of China on the world stage is also making its mark on the financial monopoly previously enjoyed by clubs from England, Spain and Germany.
While the “big three” leagues continue to exert their influence over the game, Pellè’s switch to Shandong has resulted in tremors being felt in boardrooms across the globe.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid and Portugal forward, remains the highest paid footballer in the world, earning in the region of £18m-a-year, while Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, unsurprisingly, comes in second at £17m.
China’s presence is felt thereafter, however, with Brazilian striker Hulk commanding £16.5m per annum at Shanghai, ahead of Barca’s Neymar (£15m) and new United signing Zlatan Ibrahimović (£13m).
Pellè then follows, in sixth, on £12.5m, narrowly ahead of Bayern Munich forward Thomas Müller £11.5m). Ezequiel Lavezzi, the former Paris winger now at Hebei China Fortune then gets paid a stunning £10.5m, just half a million more than Guangzhou’s Columbian striker Martínez.
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