The 10 highest-paid players in Chinese Super League history | OneFootball

Before the Saudi Pro League, it was the Chinese Super League that spent big money attracting some of the most high-profile names in world football. Starting over a decade ago, clubs in China splashed the cash signing some of the sport's biggest stars in an effort to grow their own reputation.

Carlos Tevez was one of the first big names to make the move, with Shanghai Shenhua winning the race for his signature and a year later, Shanghai SIPG smashed the Asian transfer record to sign Brazilian ace, Oscar. The signing of Oscar was a real statement move as the Brazillian hadn't even reached his prime and was impressing for Chelsea when he made the £67 million move.

Hulk, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Didier Drogba, Nicholas Anelka and Stephan El Shaarawy are other big names that made the move to China during their boom period. So, why did these players decide to move to China? A big reason for making the move was the incredible amounts of money that they were being offered on a weekly basis. The sort of money being thrown around was previously unheard of, but

the league was desperate to attract the world's best players and so clubs paid them obscene wages to convince them to join.

According to figures published by the Daily Star, Tevez is the second-highest-paid footballer in Chinese Super League history.

He pocketed over £600,000-a-week, which is more than any player currently operating in the Premier League. But amazingly, the former Manchester City man's enormous wage at Shanghai Shenhua is still a long way off the pay packet which sits in the top spot... So here are the 10 highest-paid players in the history of the Chinese Super League.

After spending over a decade in the Premier League with both Everton and later Manchester United, Marouane Fellaini was certainly past his prime in 2019, but that didn't stop Shandong Luneng from coming in for him as he was preparing to leave Old Trafford. He departed the Red Devils in February 2019, moving to the Chinese Super League, and he was paid a sizeable salary to do so.

The Belgian was 32 years old at the time, and he was making far more money than he'd likely have been offered anywhere else. He had a fine run in China, though, so the money wasn't a waste. Across four years, he played close to 150 games and recorded 62 goal contributions for his troubles. He also won a Chinese Super League and three straight Chinese FA Cups with the team. Not bad, really.

9 Eder (Jiangsu)

£213,000-a-week

After three fine, but unspectacular seasons at Inter, Italian forward Eder joined Jiangsu in 2018, for around £5m. A bargain fee, but his wages weren't quite as cheap. The star, who was 31 years old when he made the move, was paid a massive £213,000 a week during his time at the club.

He had a bit of a career resurgence alongside his increased finances too, scoring 32 times and creating 18 assists across 62 appearances for the club, but it was his strike in the Chinese Super League finals against Guangzhou Evergrande to hand his club their first-ever league title that ensure he was worth every single penny he was paid. He spent two years with the club before moving on to Sao Paulo in 2021.

8 Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande)

£230,000-a-week

The Chinese Super League's rise saw the teams within it paying above the odds to land anyone with a recognisable name, and it led to more than a few players being offered wages way higher than they probably deserved. Paulinho is a solid example of that. The midfielder had spent a couple of years at Tottenham Hotspur, but never really stood out too much.

That didn't stop Guangzhou Evergrande from bringing him to China on massive wages, though. In his defence, he excelled with the club and definitely justified his salary. After a couple of solid years, Barcelona spent around £40m on signing him, before he moved back to Guangzhou two years later. The COVID-19 pandemic saw his time at the club brought to an end, but he had a superb time with them.

7 Stephan El Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenhua)

£247,000-a-week

After making a name for himself at AC Milan and AS Roma, Stephan El Shaarawy earned a major-money move to China when he joined Shanghai Shenhua, in 2019. He was offered a massive wage packet to do so, pocketing just under a quarter of a million pounds every single week to make the move.

Truth be told, the move was a shocker, though, and the Italian played just 19 times between 2019 and 2021 at the club, before he moved straight back to Roma. He'd picked up a hefty salary during that brief spell, but never justified those finances through his performances on the pitch. Having returned to Italy, he's once again performing at a high level.

6 Graziano Pelle (Shandong Luneng)

£263,000-a-week

After a couple of solid seasons with Southampton in the Premier League, Graziano Pelle made the jump to the Chinese Super League when he joined Shandong Luneng several years before Fellaini would join him. He was paid a huge weekly salary right off the bat too, making £263,000 a week during his time with the club.

He had an impressive run in the league as well. Over the course of 133 appearances in all competitions, Pelle scored 63 goals and created 24 assists. He wasn't there to pick up a wage and do very little else like some of the names on this list, and he spent four years with Shandong before he joined Parama in 2021, spending six months with the Serie A club before retiring.

5 Hulk (Shanghai SIPG)

£320,000-a-week

There was a time when Hulk was considered one of the most impressive talents in football. He had impressed at FC Porto and Zenit Saint Petersburg. Many wanted to see him move to one of Europe's biggest clubs, but instead, in 2016, he moved to China and joined Shanghai SIPG.

It wasn't the move many wanted, but he was paid £320,000 a week for the deal, so it's easy to see why he went down that route. He thrived in China as well, playing 145 times for Shanghai and picking up 130 goal contributions over the course of four years. He might not have become the European star that many expected, but he made a bucket-load of money in China. He left the club in 2021, moving back to Brazil and signing with Atletico Mineiro where he remains to this day.

4 Cedric Bakambu (Beijing Guoan)

£341,000-a-week

Having emerged as a promising talent at Villarreal, many expected big things for Cedric Bakambu and it seemed only a matter of time before he joined a big team in Europe. Instead, though, at just 24 years old, he decided to join Beijing Guoan in 2018. It was a shocking move at the time, but when you factor in the fact he was making close to £350,000 a week, it's understandable to see why he made the decision to join the club.

He was still so young, though, and had plenty to offer. Playing 87 times for the club, scoring 58 times and creating 21 assists over the course of his tenure with them. He spent four years with the club before moving back to Europe when he joined Marseille in 2022. After bouncing around a couple of teams, he joined Galatasaray last summer.

3 Oscar (Shanghai SIPG)

£500,000-a-week

Oscar's move to Shanghai SIPG was a statement signing from the club as the Brazillian hadn't even reached his prime at Chelsea when he made the switch in 2017. He'd spent five years at the Blues but was still only 26 years old when he left for the Chinese Super League. It was an eye-opening move at the time, but considering he was on £500,000 a week, who can blame him?

He's had a solid tenure in China too, probably being the best return out of any star that was brought into the fold over the years. He's still at Shanghai, now renamed Shanghai Port FC, and has played over 200 games in six years with the team, scoring 61 goals and chalking up 110 assists.

Oscar has also won two Chinese Super League titles with the club over the years, so at least his half-a-million-pound weekly wage has brought the club some success.

2 Carlos Tevez (Shanghai Shenhua)

£634,615-a-week

In terms of return on investment, Tevez's move to Shanghai Shenhua has to be one of the biggest busts in the history of the Chinese Super League. The striker was less than two years removed from scoring 29 goals for Juventus during the 2014-15 season when he moved to China in December 2016, but he was a shell of the player he'd once been.

In his one solo season at Shanghai, the Argentine played just 20 games in all competitions, scoring four times and creating just five assists. Those numbers aren't particularly great for any elite forward, but considering he made over £40m during that period, the move was an absolute disaster, and he massively underperformed. It says a lot about the money that clubs in China have spent over the years, though, that his eye-watering salary isn't even the most expensive in the league's history.

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£798,000-a-week

Do not adjust your screen, Lavezzi's wage at Hebei China Fortune really does read £798,000 a week. The Argentine was a very good footballer in his pomp, particularly at Napoli, but that salary is just ridiculous, and he was never worth anything close to it.

But unlike his fellow countryman Tevez, Lavezzi at least produced the goods out in China, during his three years at Hebei FC between 2016-2019. In his 75 appearances across all competitions for the club, he scored 35 goals and assisted a further 32. Although for close to £800,000 a week, those numbers are probably below par in truth...