Transfer news: China can easily break $100m transfer mark, says Tim Cahill

Socceroo forward Tim Cahill said it was only a matter of time before China breaks football’s transfer mark as the country continues to pile up on international talents in the Chinese Super League (CSL).

Cahill, who played one season with Chinese club Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC, believes China can “easily” break the $100 million record transfer fee as the CSL continues efforts to bring in international talents to the country.

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“When I first went to China I knew the vision, I knew what was behind it and I knew what they wanted to do. To see where it’s come to now and where we’re at, it’s pretty crazy,” Cahill told Fox Sports’ Shootout program. “This is going to be massive, soon they’ll break the $100 million mark easily.”

Since the beginning of the winter transfer window, China has broken the record transfer fee four times. As their Feb. 26 deadline gets closer, each signing has broken the previous record. China’s latest transfer deal for Shakhtar Donetsk’s Alex Teixeira is the biggest so far, with the Brazilian leaving the Ukrainian club for China with a $77.8 million fee.

“The choices that players are making are not about football like it was in my day, they’re purely about personal gains and it depends what you want as an individual,” Cahill said of Teixeira and Ramires, who turned down the chance to play for English Premier League clubs Liverpool and Chelsea.

The Chinese transfer record reached to new heights this month after topping England in the list of top-spending countries during the winter transfer. According to transfermarkt, China has spent €322.79 million (AU$506.7 million) on 260 transactions, compared to England’s Є305.08 million (AU$478.8 million) on 725 transfers.

China still has 18 more days remaining to continue their relentless spending in the current transfer window, and with the country not showing signs of slowing on shelling out hefty salaries to international players, the country could very well break the transfer fee record mark.