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Barcelona Star Agrees Move To Chinese Super League

Barcelona Star Agrees Move To Chinese Super League

The player will stay until the end of January and then move on to the Far East.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

It's both the most wonderful time of the year and very nearly the worst time of the year, the transfer window. And with January and the transfer window comes a fresh batch of players moving east for a bit of Chinese dollar.

We used to only have to worry about which players would be moving to what European club but nowadays there is a slew of players, often South Americans, winging their way to the Chinese Super League.

Of course China isn't exactly the first place you'd think of if I said the world 'football,' it's like not in your top 10 or top 20 but in the last couple of years the CSL has been flush with cash and throwing it at players in Europe.

The former Spurs central midfielder had a great time of things in Asia, winning the Asian Champions League. Image: PA images.

Paulinho was one of the first big names to go from Europe to China and then he was one of the first to pack in his time there and move back to Europe, when he joined Barcelona in the summer.

Now it looks like Barcelona will lose one of their players in the opposite direction. According to Spanish paper SPORT Argentine defender Javier Mascherano has agreed to join Hebei Fortune but will wait till the end of January to move.

Mascherano has been with Barca for seven years. Image: PA Images.

In an interview last month Mascherano told reporters "I think it might be time. I might leave Barca in 2018. I always sat down at the end of the season with the board and coaches and they made the decision. This time, it may be me who makes the decision."

Having only started five La Liga games this season it looks like his time in Spain has come to an end but he will wait till the end of January to move because of the injury to first choice centre back Samuel Umtiti.

Umtiti is likely to be out for around eight weeks. Image: PA Images.

Mascherano first arrived in Europe with Carlos Tevez at West Ham in 2006 but Alan Pardew preferred Hayden Mullins in midfield, something that genuinely happened, he then moved to Liverpool in 2007.

In 2010 he moved to the Camp Nou but has mainly been used as a defender rather than in midfield where he was previously used. Now his time in Europe seems to be over.

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Topics: Barcelona, CSL, Chinese Super League