The Chinese Super League is finally back as it opened its new season on Friday, March 5, with a match between Guangzhou R&F FC and newly-promoted club Hebei China Fortune FC at the Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou, Guangdong.
Hebei came up on top in their top flight season opener, beating last season's 14th-placed team, 2-1, on the road.
The Samba Kings are actually favored to win against the Blue Lions because of their big-name signings during the winter transfer window, namely Gervinho from Roma, Ezequiel Lavezzi from Paris Saint-Germain, Gaël Kakuta from Sevilla, Ersan Gülüm from Besiktas, and Stéphane Mbia from Trabzonspor.
The money spent by Hebei had paid off handsomely as proven by the match with Gülüm and Gervinho providing the goals for head coach Li Tie at the 28th and 40th minutes, as per Soccerway. Guangzhou's score actually came from an own goal by Turkey international Gülüm right at the 11th minute.
Hebei acquired Gervinho from Serie A squad AS Roma for a fee of €18 million, which was one of the larger deals pulled off by Chinese Super League teams during the January window.
The National reported that the CSL's €331 million "record-breaking spending spree" ensures that all eyes will be on this year's China top flight competitions as the league is now "brimming with foreign stars".
The report also noted that the China transfer record was broken four times just this window, first when Elkeson was sent to Shanghai SIPG from Guangzhou Evergrande for €18.5 million, and then again when Ramires was bought by Jiangsu Suning from Chelsea for €32 million.
The record was broken for the third time in weeks after five-time CSL champs Evergrande signed Colombia international Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid for €42 million, only to be broken for the fourth time just days later when Jiangsu Suning moved to snag Alex Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk for the now-standing transfer record of €50 million.
With all the big signings, local and international football fans alike have become curious and enthused about what the league could offer this season.
"Everyone in China is talking about the league, workmates, friends, even old people on the street," Ma Zheng, a 33-year-old Shanghai SIPG fan, said.
"There's a feeling that Chinese football is going to be worth watching again this year after many years of it being looked down upon by Chinese," he added.