LONDON — As the migration of soccer players from Europe to China continues, much of the rhetoric is falling short on understanding.
After Alex Teixeira’s move to Liverpool fell through, and the Brazilian was sold days later for $55 million to the Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning, the former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson said in a Liverpool newspaper that Teixeira “must have the professional ambition of a gnat.”
Likewise, when the Colombian Jackson Martínez left Atlético Madrid after barely half a season, the presumption was that he couldn’t cut it in Madrid. Ramires, the Brazilian sold by Chelsea, and Gervinho, the Ivory Coast striker sold by Roma, are other notable players who have joined Chinese clubs in recent weeks in what The Sun newspaper has called the “Great Haul of China.