[Xinhua News Agency] Evergrande Announcing Payment of 3.5 Million USD, a Record-Setting Transfer Fee, for Brazilian Forward
Date：2010.06.30 Publisher：
Xinhua News Agency 2010-6-30 Jia Wenjun
Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, June 30, Sports (Reporter Jia Wenjun) After signing Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang, two famous players returned from abroad, on the 28th, well-lined Guangzhou Evergrande Club of Chinese Series A spent a hefty sum again to sign Brazilian forward Muriqui on 30th by paying $3.5 million of transfer fee.
3.5 million USD, the amount may be just a trifle on the international transfer market. But, it is almost equal to the total annual investment in a team of the Chinese Super League. The figure has also set a new record in the transfer fees for foreign players in the Chinese professional league.
24-year-old Muriqui was once elected as the “Star of Hope” for Brazilian football and used to play for Atletico Mineiro, a team of the Brazilian Series A under the world famous coach Luxemburgo. The stunning speed of Muriqui earned himself the title of “Brazilian cheetah”. He has been selected into the Brazilian national youth team three times.
As the most expensive foreign player of the Chinese professional league, Muriqui said that he would do his utmost, go all out in both training and match and treat every match seriously. “Football is not said with mouth, but played with feet. I’ve signed a 4-year contract with the club and hope to exhibit my value through a succession of goals so that the club will feel that I am good value for the money.”
The process of introducing Muriqui has been a very tough one. When they were in contact with Muriqui, he was also targeted by the clubs of three other countries, namely, Japan, South Korea, and Portugal.
According to Mr. Liu Yongzhuo, Board Chairman of Evergrande Club, it is actually a type of investment to introduce a player of great potentials at such a price. “In foreign countries, clubs are often seen to spend a fortune buying young players of potentials to enable them to continuously increase their value in the league. Such an investment means tremendous benefits for the club whether or not the players will transfer again in the future.”
