Since 2019, the national football team has naturalized a large number of players in order to impact the 2022 World Cup, in order to play for the national football team and play an important role in the process of impacting the 2022 World Cup, but with the defeat of the national football team in the round of 12, these heavily funded naturalized players are like a dream of Nanke, adding another joke to the history of Chinese football.
So how are these naturalized players doing?
NO1.Axon (Ba B Gremio)
Axon, formerly known as Elkeson, was born in 1989 and is currently 34 years old. The Brazilian-born player was arguably one of the most successful foreign signings in the Chinese Super League before his naturalization, scoring 158 goals and assisting 69 times in 281 appearances for Evergrande and SIPG, and he also became the all-time top scorer of the Chinese Super League with 122 goals.
In July 2019, in order to naturalize Axon, Evergrande brought him in, and the annual salary increased from 6 million euros to 10 million euros, which is already the annual salary level of Europe's top players.
After naturalization, Axon scored 4 goals in 13 games for the national football team, but these goals were made against fish-belly teams such as Guam and Maldives, and Axon did not score after entering the round of 12.
Axon became a free agent after his contract with Guangzhou in January 2022, and he signed with Gremio in April until the end of 2022. In this nearly one-year period, Axon made 23 appearances for Gremio, starting only four, and Axon scored three goals. It seems that even in the second league, Axon cannot get the main position, and the 34-year-old Axon can no longer return to his peak form.
At present, Gremio has not renewed his contract with Axon, he is now a free agent and is looking for a next home, and it is unlikely that Axon will continue to play for the national football team in the future.
NO2. Alain (Ba Liga Fluminense)
Originally from Brazil, Alain was born in 1989 and is currently 34 years old. Alain came to the Chinese Super League before playing for Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian league, scoring 93 goals in 129 games with great efficiency. After coming to the Chinese Super League, he has played 162 times for Evergrande, Tianhai and Guoan, scoring 81 goals and assisting 36 times.
Alain's annual salary when he renewed his contract with Evergrande in January 2019 was 3.5 million euros, but after naturalization, his annual salary was the same as that of Axon, and also reached 10 million euros. Allan played a total of 10 games for the national football team, scoring 3 goals and assisting 1 time, and like Axon, he also scored goals in Guam, Maldives and the like, and did not score in the round of 12.
After terminating his contract with Guangzhou in February 2022, Allan signed with Bunzha powerhouse Fluminense as a free agent until June 2024, his annual salary is only 1/10 of that of China, and he has only scored one goal in four appearances in the season that has been played, and is a marginal figure in the team.
NO3.Lo Guofu (Baja Liga América Mineiro)
Luo Guofu, formerly known as Aloisio, is originally from Brazil, born in 1988, and is currently 34 years old. After Luo Guofu came to China, he played for Luneng , Huaxia Happiness, Guangdong South China Tigers, Evergrande and other teams.
In January 2020, after completing the naturalization process, Luo Guofu's annual salary rose from 3 million euros to 5 million euros, and he scored one goal in five games for the national football team, the only goal that came in a 2-3 away loss to Saudi Arabia in the round of 12.
Luo Guofu became a free agent after the termination of his contract with Evergrande in January 2022, and he signed a two-year contract with América Mineiro in the Baja Liga, and his contract will end at the end of 2023. This season, Lo Guofu has made 28 appearances for the team, started 12 times, scored 4 goals and assisted 2 times, and is considered a rotation player.
NO4.Li Ke (Chinese Super League Beijing Guoan)
Li Ke is a naturalized player, born in 1993, currently 30 years old. Before coming to the Chinese Super League, he played for Brentford in the Championship. Li, who plays as a defender on the field, can be regarded as the level of the main level of the mid-table team in the Championship.
In January 2019, in order to complete Li Ke's naturalization, Guoan Club paid a transfer fee of 5.5 million euros to Brentford, and offered Li Ke an annual salary of 2.2 million euros, and Li Ke played a total of 52 appearances, scored 2 goals and assisted 5 times. However, in the past 2 years, Li Keji has been plagued by injuries, only made 3 appearances in 2021, and in 2022 he is basically in surgery and recuperation.
Li Ke made a total of 6 appearances for the national football team, mainly in the qualifiers, and Li Ke did not have many opportunities in the round of 12.
At present, after Li Ke's surgery, he is undergoing recovery training at the Arsenal training base in the United Kingdom. His contract with the Guoan Club expired at the end of 2022 and has not yet been renewed, and Li Ke's status in the future is still questionable.
NO5.Jiang Guangtai (Super League Shanghai Port)
Jiang Guangtai, also naturalized by blood, was born in 1994 and is currently 29 years old. Before coming to the Chinese Super League, Jiang Guangtai played for Everton in the Premier League, playing as a central defender. However, he did not have many opportunities at Everton, and was long-term loaned to the Championship's Preston Stone, Sunderland and other teams.
In February 2019, in order to naturalize Jiang Guangtai, the Evergrande Club brought him in with a transfer fee of 4.6 million euros and offered an annual salary of 2.5 million euros, and Jiang Guangtai made a total of 61 appearances for Evergrande. Jiang Guangtai played a total of 14 games for the national football team, without scoring goals or assists, and he is also one of the main players in the current national football team.
In August 2022, Jiang Guangtai was exempted from Shanghai Port as a free agent and has scored two goals in 17 appearances for his new club. It can be said that Jiang Guangtai is one of the few naturalized players who can still be used by the national football team, but he is also 29 years old, and it is difficult to say how he will be in the next World Cup qualifiers.
The above five are naturalized players who have played for the national football team, objectively speaking, their role in the group stage and the round of 12 of the national football team participating in the World Cup qualifiers is not obvious, both due to personal strength, more importantly, the improper use of coaches, and did not allow these naturalized players to really play at a level.
There are also some naturalized players who did not play for the national football team for various reasons:
Gaulart (Bahia)
Goulart, originally from Brazil, was born in 1991 and is currently 32 years old. Before coming to China, Goulart was already a famous goalscorer in the Baja Liga, and after coming to China, he played for Evergrande, Huaxia Happiness, and other teams, scoring 114 goals and assisting 59 times in a total of 192 appearances.
Goulart is a very strong attacker, and in order to naturalize him, Evergrande increased his annual salary from 6 million euros to 15 million euros in July 2019. Goulart also changed his nationality, and he is still Chinese. However, because he was loaned to Palmeiras from January to June 2019, he did not meet the conditions for living in China for five consecutive years, so even if he changed his nationality, he was not eligible to play for the national football team, and naturalization that cost so much money was useless.
After the termination of Gaulart and Evergrande in January 2022, he joined Santos as a free agent, scoring only 3 goals and assisting 2 times in 30 appearances. Gaulart joined Bahia in the second division after the termination of his contract with Santos in August 2022, and Gaulart is currently seeking to restore his Brazilian citizenship.
Fernando (free agent)
Fernando, formerly known as Fernando, is originally from Brazil, born in 1993 and is currently 30 years old. Fernando has played for teams such as Flamingo in the Bundesliga and Estoril in the Portuguese Premier League. After coming to China in 2015, he played for Chongqing, Huaxia Happiness, Evergrande and other teams.
In July 2019, in order to naturalize Fernando, Evergrande raised his annual salary from 4.8 million euros to 8 million euros. Fernando is fast, skilled and relatively young among several naturalized players of Brazilian origin, and can play for the national team for a long time if used properly. Fernando has also been selected for the national football training team many times, but his professionalism and self-discipline are not good, and he was removed from the national football team for violating team discipline during training in February 2020.
After terminating his contract with Evergrande Club in January 2022, Fernando became a free agent and has not yet found a home, but for Fernando, it doesn't matter if he plays football or not, he has long made a lot of money in China.
In addition to the above 7 people, the national football team also has Delgado, Hou Yongyong, Qian Jiejie, Xiao Taotao, Yang Mingyang, Chen Jiayu, Cao Yangzheng and other 7 naturalized players, because of insufficient personal strength, they are not qualified to play for the national football team.
Therefore, in the tide of naturalization of the national football team, there are a total of 14 naturalized players, 6 people who have participated in the training of the national team, 5 people who have appeared, and spent so much money, the national football team has not changed much from the original.