Mousa Dembele transfer: Nine Premier League stars who swapped England for the riches of China
Dembele looks to be the latest to join Beijing Guoan from Spurs for £11million
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele looks set to join a number of players who have swapped the Premier League for the Chinese Super League.
Dembele is out of contract at Spurs in the summer and they are likely to cash in on him now with an £11million fee reported to have been offered by Beijing Guoan, according to the .
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has already said he will be available to buy in the January transfer window.
He is not the first, and unlikely to be the last, to opt for a move to the riches of the Chinese Super League.
Clubs in the division will be required to adhere to a new set of regulations from next season, however, including a player salary cap to prevent them from splurging on fees.
Foreign players will not be affected by the salary cap but clubs’ annual expenditure will not be able to exceed £137million.
But which superstars will Dembele be following to to China? Find out below.
Latest Transfer News
Oscar – Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG
The Brazilian midfielder, 27, decided to move to China from Chelsea at the peak of his career for £60million in 2017.
He is one of the highest paid players in the league - and the world - with a reported figure of around £400,000 a week.
He helped Shanghai SIPG to their first Chinese Super League title last season.
Odion Ighalo - Watford to Changchun Yatai
The striker impressed with Watford in the Championship, scoring 20 goals in their promotion winning season, and the added 15 in his first year in the Premier League.
He moved to Changchun Yatai on transfer deadline day in January 2017 for £20million and he has gone on to score 36 goals in 55 games for the club.
John Obi Mikel – Chelsea to Tianjin TEDA
Mikel won just about everything you can win in English football with two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, the League Cup, Europa League and Champions League in his 10 years at Chelsea.
However, after 374 appearances for the Blues they were not going to renew his contract after the 2016-17 season so he made a January move to Tianjin TEDA on a free transfer.
After two seasons it now looks like he'll also be leaving for the same sum.
Ramires – Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning
Brazilian midfielder is another Chelsea player who left for China with a transfer fee of £25million reported after finding himself out of favour under Guus Hiddink.
He has made 71 appearances for his club and scored 17 goals but is yet to win any honours.
Latest Football News
Didier Drogba – Chelsea to Shanghai Shenhua
Chelsea striker Drogba was released by the club in 2012 after scoring 157 goals in 341 games in a legendary Premier League career.
He signed for Shanghai Shenhua but after scoring eight times in 11 games he switched to Galatasaray.
Nicolas Anelka – Chelsea to Shanghai Shenhua
Anelka signed for Shanghai Shenhua in January 2012 where his salary was reported to be around €12million a year.
After 27 games, and just three goals, he was loaned to Juventus before returning to the Premier League and signing permanently for West Brom in 2013.
Papiss Cisse – Newcastle to Shandong Luneng
Cisse signed for Shangong Luneng in the summer of 2016 after 131 games and 44 goals for Newcastle.
He played for two seasons in the Chinese Super League scoring 16 goals in 31 games.
Paulinho – Spurs to Guangzhou Evergrande
Paulinho was Spurs’ record transfer when they signed him from Corinthians for £17million in July 2013.
After two seasons in the Premier League he joined Guangzhou Evergrande for £9.9million. He scored 28 goals in 95 games in China before Barcelona paid €40million for him in August 2017.
He spent one campaign at the Camp Nou before returning to Guangzhou Evergrande.
Graziano Pelle – Southampton to Shandong Luneng
The Italian striker had two moderately successful seasons in the Premier League with Southampton, scoring 12 and 11 goals, before signing for Shandong Luneng for £12million.
He became the fifth-highest paid footballer in the world and has gone on to score 28 goals in 73 games in China.