It's official. You said 'I hope not' but I just wanted to point out in the link you actually see Anelka with the chinese owner holding the kits. Pretty sure that's official. Just wanted to point that out !
Ah, the ever-present post police. I would just like to point out that I was replying to the final remark in ceezmad's post: "Maybe in 2 years (or sooner, contracts in China sometimes do not last as long as they say)." I'm saying I hope that no one in MLS goes after Anelka in two years. I would have thought there were plenty of context clues in my post to help you come to that realization even if you misunderstood what I was replying to.
oh come on Beckham came to MLS and many people in Europe said the same about him, he went out on loans (CSL runs the same as the MLS season) and some teams in Europe may want him. You never know, Anelka may still have gas in the tank in 2 years, shit Blanco and Barrios Scarlotto did at 36 years old.
In USD, Shanghai will pay Anelka $270k per week, and paid a reported $31 million transfer fee. Not only is there no way MLS would pay that price, there's no way on Earth he's worth that much money. Chelsea will be laughing all the way to the bank on this move.
Like I said, people in Europe say that about MLS, but we here know that Beckham, Henry and Blanco weren't/aren't starting retirement in MLS. Can we really say the same thing about taking a mega-contract in China? Besides, Beckham was 31 and his game has/had next to nothing to do with speed. Anelka is a striker. Schelotto and Blanco were playmakers, which have always had success in MLS. In fact, in Beckham's last and best MLS season, he played a role more akin to that of GBS and Blanco. Anelka is already 32 and he would be 35 by the time that MLS season came around after his 2-year contract in China. You really want a 35 year old, worn down Anelka after he spends two years in China? Exactly how sharp do you think he'd be?
Shit I did not want Blanco when I first heard the news, but shit he proved me wrong. Not saying Anelka will be good at 35, but just because players go to smaller leagues does not mean they will turn to shit, Beckham didn't, Henry hasn't. But maybe you are right and Anelka will get soft in a lower level league, but he may have done the same if he signed to our lower level league. Hard to judge.
It is hard to judge, but I think overall MLS is a harder league than the CSL. They have a strict 4+1 foreigner rule (4 foreigners plus 1 AFC foreigner), which means most of the team is Chinese. Do you really think that they have enough domestic talent right now to have there not be huge drop off from Anelka to the 11th player? They are bringing in at best some mid-level Euro players (Cleo from Partizan is one) that put up stunning numbers. Their lack of overall quality has been evident in the AFC Champions League. Since 2008 they have had only 2 of 14 teams get out of the group stage and none have got out of the round of 16. They are building teams that are impressive at the very top (players 1-4) but no where near as good at the 9-11 position (even more so than MLS, IMO).
I'm not saying Anelka will all of a sudden become a horrible player in two years, but once a guy loses that edge, its hard to get it back. Just look at Torres. It took a long time for Rooney to raise his game again. As a DP in MLS, there is a lot of visibility and scrutiny. You stand out because of your salary, but you are expected to grind it out along with everyone else on the team. Will Anelka face any sort of similar pressure, on and off the field? Montreal was already willing to pay him, what, $6 million a year? (btw, when money seems like the #1 factor, that usually says a lot about the player's mindset; MLS teams simply can't overpay like clubs in China and Qatar) I just don't think he would be worth the salary it would cost to get him as a 35 year old. Signing a 35 year old Anelka for more than $1 million per year would most likely be a bad investment and would only provide another example to feed the myth of MLS as a retirement league.
Well for players like Beckham, Henry, Anelka, Marquez, their salaries are not only for their field skills, they are expected to sell tickets and shirts, and to give the league more exposure, arguably that is what Becks did for MLS, the CSL, really the team since the CSL is different than our league as each team is independent (well all owned by the communist party probably) wants to do the same. That is the issue with Soccer, this is not the NFL, NBA, NHL, were we have the best paid or the most popular leagues in the world, so we have to compete with the Qatars, the CSL, the J-leagues, the Scandinavian leagues, etc for talent. It will be interesting the next 20 years to see what MLS, The Brazileirato and the CSL among other can do to grow and compete for talent with the European leagues. I also read that there are rummors of CSL teams going after Drogba. One other thing we can not compete against just yet, is that not only is Shanghai Shenhua paying him tons of money, they are saying they paid a large transfer fee, now I was under the impression he was a free agent, but perhaps I was wrong.
Chinese clubs are owned by a mixture of government-owned companies and private companies and individuals. The money to buy these big stars is coming from very rich private owners who have made fortunes in Chinese business and now want to indulge their passion for football. Here are the ownerships of 16 CSL League clubs Beijing Guo'an - CITIC Group (State owned) 75%, Real Mardrid 25% Changchun Yatai - Jilin Yatai Group (Private owned) Dalian Shide - Shide Group , Private Guangzhou Evergrande - Evergrande Real Estate, Private Henan Jianye - CCRE Group, Private Jiangsu Sainty - Sainty Group, State owned Qingdao Jonoon - Zhongneng Group, Private Shaanxi Baorong Chanba - Baorong Investment, Private Shandong Luneng Taishan - SEPCO Group (state owned) 70%, Luneng Group (Private owned) 30%, Shanghai Shenhua - the 9th city Group (Private owned) 75%, SMEG Group(State owned) & Huangpu Investment (State owned), 25%, Tianjin Teda - Teda Group, State owned Zhejiang Greentown - Greentown Group, Private Liaoning Whowin - Whowin Group, Private Nanchang Hengyuan - Hengyuan Group, Private Guangzhou R&F - R&F Properties, Private Dalian Aerbin - Aerbin Group, Private Reported by Sohu.com, the total budget for the 16 clubs in CSL 2012 reaches 2.8 billion RMB, (424.4 million USD), and budgets of some clubs like: Guangzhou Evergrande 110.6 million USD, Shanghai Shenhua 63.2 million USD, Guangzhu R&F 47.4 million USD, Dalian Aerbin 47.4 million USD, Beijing Guoan 31.6 million USD, Tianjin Teda 31.6 million USD, Liaoning Whowin 23.7 million USD, Dalian Shide 15.8 million USD, Hangzhou Greentown 12.64 million USD......