Former Liaoning Whowin defender Josh Mitchell. (Photo : Getty Images)
Australian footballer Josh Mitchell, who last played for Chinese Super League outfit Liaoning Whowin, have recently commented that even though the CSL was the biggest spender in world football during the January transfer window, the league will still not be able to rival European associations because of instability and lack of infrastructure.
This year's winter transfer window has recorded China's first-tier association football league as the top spender among the world's biggest leagues with €136.25 million worth of new signings of international players. They were followed by the English Premier League at about €116 million and the Italian Serie A at third with €57 million.
China's second division, China League One, is fourth with expenditures of €43 million while Germany's Bundesliga is fifth with €36 million of expenses.
The top three international signings this month were all from the CSL, namely Chelsea's Ramires to Jiangsu Suning for €33 million, Roma's Gervinho to Hebei China Fortune for €18 million, and Inter Milan's Fredy Guarin to Shanghai Shenhua for €12 million.
"It (the CSL) will continue to grow and to be very lucrative for players, but the stability, the infrastructure within the clubs and the federation... is not in place," the 31-year-old Mitchell said, as reported by Goal.
The report also noted that Mitchell said "the regular changes to clubs' names and location as one significant blow to the CSL's long-term stability".
The Newcastle, Australia native cited his former Perth Glory teammate Adam Hughes, whose China League One club Yiteng FC had relocated over 2,400 kilometers from Harbin, Heilongjiang to Shaoxing, Zhejiang this 2016 season, as an example of the instability he was talking about.
"I can't imagine the traditions of Chinese culture and how they do things will change [and] it doesn't suit football and it won't allow the CSL to become one of the biggest leagues in the world," said the 6-foot center back. "But it still will probably become the biggest league in Asia."
Mitchell also warned compatriot Trent Sainsbury, who was recently signed by CSL side Jiangsu Suning, about the implications of playing in China.
"There'll be a lot of pressure, especially from the board, the owners, the fans there because Jiangsu is a big team, big supporter base, and if they're not going for the title, at least in the running they'll change players, they'll change coach, they'll change everything with that amount of money until they get there," he said, via Yahoo Sports.
