THE GREAT FALL OF CHINA
In one short sentence, the dream was all over. “From today, Jiangsu Football Club ceases operations of its teams,” a statement read.
Less than four months earlier, Alex Teixeira had curled home the decisive goal in front of thousands of jubilant fans, to give the club its first Chinese Super League title.
This was a club that had outbid Liverpool to recruit the Brazilian from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2016 – the same year in which they had lured Ramires from Chelsea. This was a club that had hired Fabio Capello as manager in 2017. This was also a club that came close to signing Gareth Bale from Real Madrid in 2019, on a deal reported to be worth £1 million per week.
But by the end of February 2021, the club was no more. For the second year in a row, a Super League giant was consigned to the dustbin of history, after Tianjin Quanjian – the club of Fabio Cannavaro, Axel Witsel, Luis Fabiano, Alex Pato, Vanderlei Luxemburgo and Paulo Sousa. The club was disbanded in 2020, despite being linked with a bold move for Cristiano Ronaldo just two years earlier.
At one time, every superstar on the planet was deemed a target for the financial might of Chinese football. Lionel Messi was said to have been offered a bonkers £88m-per-year salary to move to Asia, before inking a new deal at Barcelona in 2017.
