Chelsea’s manager says Chinese football dangerous for all teams

Antonio Conte, the manager of English side Chelsea FC, believes the huge money being spent on players by Chinese clubs is a “danger for all teams in the world’’.

The Blues’ 25-year-old midfielder Oscar is close to a £60 million (about N30 billion) move to Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG in January.

The Brazilian is expected to receive an estimated £400,000 (about N200m) a week.

Conte said it would be “difficult’’ to manage a player on such a high salary.

Antonio Conte

Chinese clubs spent £200m (about N100bn) before the start of the 2016 season.

The Chinese transfer record was broken three times in 10 days, as Chelsea’s Brazil midfielder Ramires was signed by Jiangsu Suning for £25m (about N12.5bn).

This was followed by Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao buying Colombia striker Jackson Martinez for £31m (about N15.5bn) from Atletico Madrid.

Jiangsu then paid Shakhtar Donetsk £38.4m for Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira.

However, the fee for Teixeira was eclipsed by the £46.1m paid by Shanghai SIPG for Zenit St Petersburg’s Brazil forward Hulk during the mid-season summer window.

The next Chinese transfer window opens on Jan. 1 and closes on Feb. 28.

Arsenal midfielder Alexis Sanchez has been linked with a reported £500,000-a-week contract at Hebei China Fortune, managed by former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

“The Chinese market is a danger for all teams in the world, not only for Chelsea,’’ said Conte.

But speaking about the Premier League, he added: “This league is fantastic, a great opportunity (for players), a great honour and we should be very proud we play in this league.”

Conte refused to confirm Oscar’s move, saying: “I don’t know exactly the amount, or the situation. Now we have to wait — when it is the moment everybody will know.’’(NAN)