Odion Ighalo and Carlos Tevez show route back from Chinese Super League

Carlos Tevez received the ball on the edge of the penalty box and opened up his body. Seconds later he had opened up a lead at the top of the Argentine top flight.

Gimnasia La Plata’s goalkeeper Jorge Broun could not keep out the 37-year-old’s fierce drive and Tevez celebrated as if it had won the title for his boyhood club, because 20 minutes or so later it would do just that.

The only goal of the game at Boca’s Bombanera stadium would be enough to secure Boca the title over great rivals River Plate by a single point, as River could only draw 1-1 at Atletico Tucuman.

That made it nine goals in 17 league games for Tevez this season – not bad for someone who was written off after his bizarre 2017 season in the Chinese Super League with Shanghai Shenhua, much of which he spent in Argentina anyway.

Tevez was written off after that, much like the man who followed in his footsteps at Shenhua: Odion Ighalo.

The Nigeria striker moved to Shanghai after starring at Changchun Yatai but is now on loan at Manchester United in the English Premier League. Ighalo was quarantined on arrival because of the coronavirus outbreak, with some supporters making jokes out that manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had signed him in order to call the league off.

The United fans’ song for Ighalo follows in the same vein: “Viva Ighalo, Viva Ighalo, Coming from Shanghai, We’re all going to die, Viva Ighalo,” they sang at Derby County on Thursday night.

But the reason they sing is because Manchester United’s first Nigerian footballer is scoring goals. He may wear the No 25 shirt but he is playing like an old fashioned No 9.

Ighalo scored twice against Derby in the FA Cup win on Thursday. He had also scored the second in a 5-0 win over Belgian side Club Brugge in the Uefa Europa League. That’s three goals in two starts for Ighalo and he has also come close to scoring in English Premier League games against Chelsea and Everton.

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Both strikers were written off for playing in the Chinese Super League but they have proved that playing in China does not make you a bad player.

It makes you wonder why more teams do not take a gamble on players in the CSL, especially as it is now a buyer’s market.

The spending power of CSL clubs has been curtailed by a number of financial limitations put in place by the league and Chinese Football Association. The rewards on offer for players has also been diminished thanks to the salary cap for foreigners put in place ahead of this season.

The new limit is US$3.4 millon per year, by contrast Forbes reported that Oscar earned US$27 million last year.

Chinese Football Association chairman Chen Xuyuan said: "Our clubs had too much money burned and our professional football has not been run in a sustainable way." That was backed up by Liu Yi, the CFA secretary-general, at a workshop to discuss the new regulations in December.

“We conducted a survey which found that most of our clubs spend 60 to 80 per cent of their money on foreign imports," he said. “The salary cap on foreign players will be the most effective method to help the clubs to deflate their financial bubbles.

“Many teams have been dependent on foreign players in their forward lines. The Chinese midfielders simply need to get the ball and pass to the foreign strikers. So we have to restrict the importation of the priciest foreign players.”

No wonder that rumours abounded that the biggest earners were looking to leave – and that was before the season was postponed amid China’s attempts to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

We now have a situation where players want to leave the CSL rather than join it. Gareth Bale’s proposed move to Jiangsu Suning last summer will be the last big name linked, no longer will agents be able to drive up player contracts with a bid from an “unnamed Chinese club”.

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As per his agent Jonathan Barnett and Jiangsu boss Cosmin Olaroiu, Bale was close to joining the Nanjing side on a deal reported to be worth US$1.65 million per week until Real Madrid asked for a fee.

Now the influx of big names will become an exodus, with several Western media outlets reporting players wanted out before Europe’s transfer window closed at the end of January.

Maroune Fellaini was linked with a reunion with former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes at West Ham United, Hulk was a reported target of former teammate Wu Lei’s club Espanyol, while Beijing Guoan’s Cedric Bakambu almost joined Barcelona.

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Ighalo did leave, albeit on loan, and Yannick Carrasco left Rafael Benitez at Dalian Pro to return to Atletico Madrid but more will surely follow.

It’s clear the mega money days of seasons past are over – this transfer window, which has been extended during the hiatus has seen collective spending of around US$ 30 million, around half of what Shanghai SIPG paid for Oscar in 2017 and the lowest spend since 2011.

What this all means for Chinese football and its fans remains to be seen but it is good news for overseas clubs willing to gamble on CSL stars.