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Paulinho's Barcelona Transfer Good News For Chinese Super League, Villas-Boas Says

Brazil int'l Paulinho's "imminent move to Barcelona" from Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande is "proof of the strength" of the CSL, Shanghai SIPG coach André Villas-Boas said, according to the AFP. Paulinho is set to sign with Barça for €40M ($47.1M) on Thursday after a medical exam, the Spanish club announced on Monday. He will become Barcelona's first signing since losing Neymar to Paris St. Germain. Paulinho and Villas-Boas were together at Tottenham in '13 and the Portuguese coach said that the player's move to Spain "is good news for Chinese football." Villas-Boas said, "Because Paulinho's come here, he's done ever so well and now he has a transfer to one of the biggest clubs in the world. It shows the big clubs are also looking at our league. It's a reflection of the players and the quality of work that is being done here" (AFP, 8/14).

WARNING SHOT: In Hong Kong, Simon Chadwick reported during the "politically induced damp squib" of the last CSL transfer window, which closed mid-July, rumors circulated that "a host of China's investors in football were in trouble with the government." At the end of June, the China Banking Regulatory Commission requested information from financial institutions regarding loans made to companies including Dalian Wanda, which owns a stake in Atlético Madrid, League Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers owner Fosun and AC Milan owner Zhejiang Luosen. Thus far, no action has been taken by the Chinese government against any of these companies. However, the state's moves "can be interpreted as a warning shot across the bows of corporate China's excesses," particularly with regards to what the government has called "irrational investments." This phraseology has "hung around the vicinity of Chinese football" throughout '17 "without the government having ever publicly clarified what it means" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 8/14).

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