The Chinese football transfer window slammed shut last night after a hectic couple of months. The Chinese Super League is no longer the big money league that it used to be but there is still a reasonable flow of imported talent coming into the league as well as a fair bit of movement within the league itself. So let’s have a look at the top ten deals done in the CSL this transfer window.
#10 Streli Mamba — Kairat Almaty to Dalian Pro (Free Transfer)
Mamba is a quick athletic striker whose career has been somewhat derailed over past few years by a couple of disappointing seasons. He’ll be looking to get his career back on track with Dalian who have brought in a number of foreign attacking players this transfer window after starting the year with a fairly bare bones squad that didn’t include any foreign players or a proven striker.
It may take Mamba some times to regain his confidence but he definitely has enough ability to really shine at this level. Once he gets settled he should be able to help Dalian claw their way up the table.
#9 Borislav Tsonev — Chornomorets to Dalian Pro (Free Transfer)
The second and final Dalian player to make the list is 27 year old Bulgarian international Borislav Tsonev. A consistent performer in both the Bulgarian and Croatian top-tiers over the past few years, Tsonev was due to play in Ukraine this year but this was scuppered by the conflict in the country and so he’s now made the move to China with Dalian Pro.
An agile and technically gifted attacking midfielder with an eye for goal, Tsonev will give Dalian some real creative flair.
#8 Peter Zulj — Basaksehir to Changchun Yatai (Free Transfer)
After finishing fourth last year, Changchun have had a disappointing campaign so far and currently sit tenth in the table. They’ve looked to try and put things right in the transfer window though by bolstering their midfield with the signing of Austrian international Peter Zulj.
The 29 year old is a strong, athletic central-midfielder whose very effective at breaking up play and moving the ball forward. He should provide some much needed balance to the team and will help to bring Yatai’s attacking players into the game more.
#7 Fran Merida — Espanyol to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger (Free Transfer)
Tianjin brought in a lot of players during the winter in an extensive squad rebuild and unsurprisingly have not been that active in this summer’s transfer window.
They did sign Fran Merida from Espanyol though. An extremely experienced player who has played at the highest level in Spain, the 32 year old is a very technically capable central-midfielder whose comfortable on the ball and has excellent vision and passing. He’s already put in some impressive performances for Tianjin and grabbed a point for them against Shenhua with an well taken free-kick late in the game.
#6 Issa Kallon — SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden to Shanghai Port (Free Transfer)
Shanghai Port have had a terrible season so far and currently sit 19 points behind leaders Wuhan Three Towns. They’ve been busy in the transfer window though as they look to revamp their squad and four of the final six places on this list are going to be taken by Shanghai Port signings. First in at number six is Issa Kallon.
The 26 year old can play on either wing and is very quick with decent dribbling ability. He can really open up teams on the counter-attack and has extensive playing experience in the Netherlands. When he’s fully match fit he should become a key player for Port who have been desperately short of decent attacking players so far this year.
#5 Jose Kante — Kairat Almaty to Cangzhou Mighty Lions (Free Transfer)
Cangzhou simply haven’t been scoring enough this season and so it makes perfect sense for them to bring in a proven goalscorer like Jose Kante.
A hard working journeyman striker, Kante has managed to score regularly everywhere he’s played. He was having a decent season with Khazakstan’s Kairat Almaty prior to moving to Cangzhou and should be a real asset to the Mighty Lions as they battle to beat the drop.
#4 Tomas Pina — Alaves to Henan SSLM (Free Transfer)
In their push for their best league finish since 2009, Henan have made a splash by bringing in 34 year old Spanish midfielder Tomas Pina. Despite his age Pina is still a player of real quality and had been playing regularly in La Liga for the last five years prior to making the move to Henan.
A combative ball winning central-midfielder, Pina seems to have been brought in to fill the void left by Tim Chow who left after last season. If he can adjust to the league quickly he could give Henan the extra bit of grit they need in midfield to grind out results in the second half of the season.
#3 Tyias Browning/Jiang Guangtai — Guangzhou FC to Shanghai Port (Free Transfer)
One of the few naturalised players still remaining in China, Shanghai Port have done extremely well to grab the 28 year old English born centre-back on a free transfer. Mobile, good in the air and fairly decent on the ball, Browning has emerged as one of the best domestic centre-backs in the CSL over the past few years.
Good domestic centre-backs remain a scarce commodity in the CSL. Getting a player of Browning’s quality in, will give Port a real boost defensively.
#2 Matias Vargas — Espanyol to Shanghai Port ($4.4m)
Argentine winger Matias Vargas is another player making the switch from Espanyol to the CSL. He didn’t actually play for Espanyol last season though. Instead spending a year on loan with Turkey’s Adana Demirspor where he seemed to really benefit from getting more regular first team football.
A very well rounded attacking player who is still only 25, Vargas is definitely a cut above most of the foreign players coming to the CSL these days. He should make a big difference for Shanghai Port this year and it will be interesting to see how he gels with some of the other players they’ve brought in this transfer window.
#1 Wu Lei — Espanyol to Shanghai Port ($1.65m)
The third player on this list moving from Espanyol needs no introduction, it’s the one and only Wu Lei who returns to his boyhood club after over three and a half years in Spain. Prior to moving to Spain he had been one of the CSL’s top players and was by far and away the league’s best domestic player. At 30 he’s just about past his peak now but is still an excellent player by CSL standards.
He’ll be looking to pick up where he left off and should with the rest of Port’s transfer window signings help re-energise a team that has been badly under performing so far this year.
