MX23RW : Tuesday, November 5 23:50:32| >> :600:492167:492167:

Players who have swapped the Premier League for China

Players who have swapped the Premier League for China
© Reuters
Marouane Fellaini is the latest player to move between the two leagues.

Marouane Fellaini has brought his five-and-a-half year spell with Manchester United to an end with a move to Chinese Super League outfit Shandong Luneng.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at other players currently with clubs in China having headed there from the Premier League.

PAULINHO

After two years with Tottenham, the Brazil midfielder left to join Guangzhou Evergrande in the summer of 2015 for a fee of 14 million euros (£9.9million at the time). He won the league twice, then made a surprise switch to Barcelona in 2017, before returning to Guangzhou a year later on a season-long loan.

RAMIRES

Paulinho's compatriot Ramires signed for Jiangsu Suning from Chelsea in January 2016 in a deal believed to be worth £25m – a Chinese Super League record that would be broken twice in the following 10 days. The midfielder, who had been with Chelsea since 2010, was sent off on his Jiangsu debut before helping his new club finish runners-up behind Guangzhou that season.

GRAZIANO PELLE

Italy striker Pelle moved to Fellaini's new employers Shandong for £13m in July 2016, having scored 30 goals in 81 appearances for Southampton after joining from Feyenoord two seasons earlier. The 33-year-old netted 16 times for Shandong in 2018.

OSCAR

Another Brazilian to leave Chelsea for China, Oscar moved to Shanghai SIPG in January 2017 after finding himself out of favour with then Blues manager Antonio Conte. Chelsea cashed in as they received a reported £52m, which gave them a handsome profit of around £30m on the playmaker they bought from Internacional in 2012. Last year he helped Shanghai SIPG become Super League champions.

ODION IGHALO

Odion Ighalo
Odion Ighalo scored 15 Premier League goals for Watford in 2015-15 (Adam Davy/PA)

Having scored 15 Premier League goals for Watford in 2015-16 and then managed only one in the first part of the following season, Nigeria striker Ighalo joined Changchun Yatai in January 2017. He has fared well on the goals front in the Chinese top flight, hitting 15 in 2017 and 21 last year – although the latter campaign saw Changchun get relegated.

MOUSA DEMBELE

The 31-year-old Belgium midfielder moved from Tottenham to Guangzhou R&F last month. Dembele, who would have been out of contract in the summer, had been with Spurs since 2012.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '013b04ee-eda2-45fd-8f19-f01286420feb');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Players who have swapped the Premier League for China'});

ID:349057: cacheID:349057:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9130:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic on the touchline during his side's Premier League clash with Everton at Goodison Park on October 30, 2016
Read Next:
Bilic to take over China national team?
>
Read more about Marouane Fellaini Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!