Oscar: CSL's Final Star?
Oscar's departure on 3 December 2024 marks end of Chinese Super League's football scene. Included in the long list of the big signings including Carlos Tevez, Ricardo Carvalho, Alexandre Pato, Mikel John Obi in the last decade, oscar is the last to depart. President Xi Jinping had a strategic vision to transform China into a soccer powerhouse which included significant financial backing for the CSL and building a national team capable on competing on world stage, especially crucial since China played world cup only once in 2002.
Among the notable tranfsers, Brazilian star Oscar’s stunning £60 million ($82 million) move from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG drew worldwide attention. At just 25 years old, Oscar was a prized asset in European football, and his decision raised eyebrows across world of football. Oscar overlooked by Brazil national team due to his career in China played 48 times prior moving to China, is stuck in same number of appearances. Shanghai SIPG's first title came in 2018, ending Guangzhou Evergrande’s run of seven championships. The second crown came in 2023 and a third in 2024. Oscar made the top 10 goalscorers list with 14 goals and led the assist charts with 24 in his final season in CSL, to take his overall stats to 77 goals and 141 assists in 248 games.
As the global economy faltered and COVID-19 pandemic struck, CSL's dramatic fortune took a dramatic turn leading clubs owned by real estate firms interest shaken in football. At the time of writing this, Saudi Arabia is in the fore of investments in football to be a football powerhouse including winning rights to host FIFA world cup 2034.