Big-spending Guangzhou loses big fish in the transfer market

GUANGZHOU - Not only foreign players are selling like hotcakes in China's soccer transfer market as locals are also reaping great rewards thanks to the clubs' increased investment in the game.

Dalian Aerbin, a rising team which is about to embark on its first year in the Chinese Super League (CSL), has reached an agreement with promising striker Yu Dabao after champion Guangzhou Evergrande withdrew from transfer talks with the 23-year-old who joined Portuguese club Benfica on a 3-year deal in 2007.

During that time he was loaned to Aves, Olivais Moscavide and Mafra before moving back to China and signing with Tianjin Teda in 2010.

Aerbin and Evergrande, both run by real estate companies, were in a fierce battle for the forward, who is regarded as one of best contributors to the Chinese national team's offense.

Evergrande once offered 30 million yuan ($4.76 million) for Yu while Aerbin reportedly increased its bid to 40 million yuan, which is yet to be confirmed.

The Cantonese club quit the race when Aerbin boss Zhao Yangming had talks with Xu Jiayin, president of Evergrande, in Guangzhou on Monday evening.

According to Chinese media, Xu said in order to keep the Chinese league developing in a healthy way, Evergrande couldn't "play big" by itself, and he understood the hardships of a newly-promoted club.

Aerbin is now holding preseason training at Evergrande's training base in Qingyuan, Guangdong province. It is also said Evergrande helped Aerbin to organize training in Spain last month.

"We want to express our sincere gratitude to Guangzhou Evergrande. We wouldn't have had such smooth talks with another club," said Li Ming, general manager of Aerbin. "Evergrande is doing this for the long-term development of Chinese soccer and we want to hold hands to make more contributions to Chinese soccer."

Yu's family also played an important role in his decision. Living in Qingdao, Shandong province, Yu's mother wanted him to play in Dalian, which is closer to Yu's hometown.

"Finally, I made a difficult choice in respect of my family," Yu wrote on his weibo account on Monday evening. "I am grateful for what Evergrande did for me and their understanding. It's a pity that I will miss such a great opportunity to play for that club.

"However, I want to assure the fans of Aerbin that as a professional player I will do my best for the team," Yu said. "I would also like to thank Tianjin Teda, which offered me a great stage to prove myself. I learnt a lot in my two years there."

China Daily