Oscar's £60million Chelsea deal leaves Chinese media fearing transfer 'bubble'

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Tom Doyle16 December 2016

China's state media warned a "bubble" had developed in Chinese football on Friday as Chelsea midfielder Oscar prepares to complete a £60million move to Shanghai SIPG.

Brazilian star Oscar and Argentine forward Carlos Tevez were the latest players linked with the Chinese Super League this week as clubs look set to extend a lavish spending spree which has topped $1 billion (£800m) this year.

The influential People's Daily urged clubs to control their "headstrong" spending, which follows official decrees that China should become a global football superpower.

While there is "no reason to restrict capital" in the Super League, clubs must have focus and discipline on spending for the sake of their own long-term health, an article in the Communist Party mouthpiece said.

It said 8 billion yuan ($1.15bn) had been spent in 2016, a sum which "far exceeded the economic value brought to the league".

The explosive growth in football investments is a "bubble" given the slower growth in ticket and licensed product sales, the article added.

Chinese firms have spent freely this year on foreign football clubs, players, and broadcasting rights in an effort to diversify their businesses and aid Chinese President Xi Jinping's dream of making China into a global centre of gravity for the sport.

Xi is a known football fan and in 2011 - when he was still vice-president - he laid out three hopes for China's soccer future: to qualify for another World Cup, to host a World Cup and to win a World Cup.

Chinese Super League clubs smashed the Asian record four times in the January-February window - a figure that will likely be broken again with Oscar "90 per cent certain" to arrive from Chelsea - and they have spent more than $400 million on players overall this year.

Argentine media reported Thursday that Tevez, 33, could pocket €40m a season - 20 times what he currently earns at Boca Juniors - in a two-year deal with Shanghai Shenhua.

Last month, Suning Holdings secured the Chinese broadcast rights of the popular English Premier League for a reported $650m over three years, in what would be a 12-fold increase on the current deal.

Suning is also a majority stakeholder in Italy's Inter Milan, one of a string of European clubs which have been taken over or attracted investments from Chinese companies.

Additional reporting by AFP.

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