Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has been listed among the top ten biggest foreigners in the Chinese Super League (CSL). The 2018 league season in the money-spinning nation is set to commence this weekend after the closure of the winter transfer window on Wednesday.
In a list released by the respected French Football Magazine on Friday, Tianjin TEDA star, Mikel was named among the ten biggest foreigners alongside his former Chelsea teammates Ramires and Oscar.
The list had Belgian star Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco who completed a shock move to Dalian Yifang this midweek. The former Atletico Madrid winger is tipped to be the most watched player in coming weeks.
Mikel is not the only African on the list as former Arsenal winger, Gervinho from Coted’voire who plays for Hebei Fortune also made the list. Former Barcelona star Javier Mascherano who recently switched to China from Spain is another big star in the ten-man list alongside his compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi, both of whom will feature for Gervinho’s Hebei Fortune.
Givanildo Vieira do Souza (aka Hulk); scorer of seventeen goals for Shanghai SIPG last term also made the list.
France Football Magazine’s CSL Top Ten Foreigners
- Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco – Dalian Yifang
- Gervinho – Hebei Fortune
- Hulk – Shanghai SIPG
- Ezequiel Lavezzi – Hebei Fortune
- Javier Mascherano – Hebei Fortune
- John Mikel Obi – Tianjin TEDA
- Oscar Emboaba – Shanghai SIPG
- Pato – Tianjin Quanjian
- Ramires – Jiangsu Suning
- Axel Witsel – Tianjin Quanjian
