Jose Mourinho has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to move to the Chinese Super League in the footsteps of managers like Luis Felipe Scolari and Andre Villas-Boas. The Chinese Super League has been the talk of football over the last few months. The incredible amount of spending carried out by the Chinese clubs in the hopes of attracting the best players and managers from all over the world has resulted in inflated transfer fees and wages. The huge amount of spending is proving to be a major problem for the clubs in Europe, who have traditionally dominated the football scenario.
Oscar was one of the biggest transfers from the Premier league in January, and he moved to Shanghai SIPG for a fee of around £52 million. Despite not being a first-team regular at Chelsea, the Chinese clubs were prepared to pay this astonishing transfer fee along with wages of around £20 million per year. The clubs are certainly not targeting only players, as the managers have moved to the league even at the prime. Mourinho claims he’s already had one tempting offer from the CSL, telling GQ:
“I have already refused a big offer to go to China, but I don’t criticise anyone who decides to do it.
“It’s their choice, their life. Only they can decide what they need for their future. Other managers in the Premier League have been critical, but I am no critic.”
The Portuguese was sacked as the Chelsea manager in December 2015 and he was out of work for almost 6 months. An intense passion to win appears to have been one of the primary reasons behind Mourinho turning down an opportunity to join the Chinese Super League. Mourinho is one of the best-paid managers in the world earning in excess of £10 million per year, but he could have easily tripled the figure with a move to China. Yet, he chose to take upon the challenge of reviving Manchester United’s glory days.
Mourinho continued by saying that the Chinese Super League makes it extremely difficult for clubs in Europe to do business. Squad players earn around £3-5 million at a big club in Europe, but Mourinho reckons that it becomes increasingly difficult to agree terms with those squad players when a Chinese club offers three times as much in terms of wages each year. He continued:
“If you are negotiating a new contract with one of your players, and you offer him £5m per year and they offer £25m, then you have a big problem.”
A number of Premier league managers have spoken about the threat of China. Antonio Conte, Arsene Wenger, and Jurgen Klopp are some of the prominent names. After being concerned about the league in the early part of January, those managers have changed their opinion of late. Wenger and Conte believe that money alone cannot bring great football to a league, and players with an ambition to win trophies will still prefer European football.
