Rohr can’t ignore real Eagles talent in Chinese League —Elegbede

As more Super Eagles like Odion Ighalo, Emmanuel Emenike and Nosa Igiebor prepare to join captain John Obi Mikel in the Chinese Super League, Coach Gernoit Rohr may well reconsider his position not to extend invitations to Nigerian players moving to China to play soccer.

Mikel’s move to Tiajin Teda at the start of this month, after more than a decade at Chelsea, set not a few tongues wagging. Left out of Chelsea by manager Antonio Conte since the season started in August, Mikel surprised many when he opted for China, given that offers came from Valencia and Marseille. His move was duly sanctioned by Coach Rohr, who said Mikel was guaranteed of his shirt in Eagles. But when Odion Ighalo considered going to China after suffering a slump in form at Watford, the Franco-German tactician warned the former Granada forward not to head for the far East because such would dim his chances to play for Eagles In what appears a clear case of double standard, Rohr’s position has been challenged by the Content Marketing Manager of StarTimes, Qasim Elegbede, who urged the coach to rescind his ban on Eagles stars going to China Speaking on this trending issue, Elegbede, a former sports journalist, argued that Coach Rohr cannot close his eyes to good Nigerian talents in the Chinese Super League because of the country where the league is holding. ‘’That is a generalised statement that a person like Rohr should not make. The example of Patrick Mboma is apt here. When he came to Nigeria to help Cameroon win the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000, he was playing in the Japanese League, which at that time was nowhere near a top league. ‘’It is not wise for Rohr to say that whoever plays in China is not fit to play for the Super Eagles. I believe that if Rohr sees a good Nigeria talent in the Chinese League that he would not shut him out of the national team.


Gernot Rohr

‘’The truth of the matter is that the Chinese Super League offers the best competition for our players to become better in their trade. What is the use of staying on the bench of a team in Europe, wasting away, when you can play alongside top stars like Oscar, Lavezzi, Gervinho and Kalcuta’’, added Elegbede. Continuing, he said, ‘’the league in China has the capacity of improving our players performance because there are two World Cup winning coaches in the Chinese Super League and these two, Marcelo Lippi and Felipe Scolari, are coaches of high reputation, who our players will now have the chance to play against or even for, as the case may be’’. While justifying the crazy transfer spending of the Chinese Super League, Elegbede, who noted that StarTimes has the exclusive right to show the league in sub-sahara Africa, said, ‘’it is obvious because the Chinese want to develop their league and since they are not known for their prowess in football, they need to go to those who know to learn. The Chinese want to develop their league and they are passionate about football and have the resources to draw the best players to their league. ‘’The way to go about is to lure the big boys from Europe, South American and Africa to come and teach their boys how to play better football. The ultimate goal of the Chinese is to become a top football-playing nation. And make no mistake, when Chinese set their mind on something, they often achieve it’’, he added. Responding to a question on the disparity in the wages offered to foreign players and Chinese players and the sustainability of such, Elegbede said, ‘’It is an interesting model because the money being offered is mind-blowing but let’s not forget that about five years ago, that when the big teams from Europe wanted to do their pre-season, they often went to Asia, most times China because of the population and the purchasing power. ‘’I am not really surprised by the offer they are making because they have an economy that can sustain it. How long, I don’t know. And again, Chinese are not known for their strength in football and for you to bring the best legs to your league, then you need to pay through your nose. ‘’And they are not afraid to pay. It is good that we are starting with them very early because the projection is that it will become so big. We are happy to be the only station in sub-sahara Africa showing the Chinese League to Africa. ‘’It is good for Nigeria because John Obi Mikel, who is the captain of Nigeria is now playing in China and can be monitored by Nigerians to know if he deserves to continue leading the Eagles in the next round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers’’, added Elegbede. He said the cap on the number of foreigners, who can play for a team was to protect young Chinese players from being stifled out by their more illustrious counterparts from other countries. ‘’China is not known for its football prowess, so there was a need to protect these home players from being muscled out by their counterparts from Europe, Africa and America. It is not unique to China. At a time, the English Premier League did it. Even, the Germans did it. The Italians also did it. ‘’When something is at its early stage, you need to put such a cap to protect your local talents, otherwise you might end up killing the local talents. It must be noted that the objective for the Chinese is to develop their home talents through the injection of top quality players into their league’’.he added. Money in Chinese League ‘’The money is very big. Last year, they spent the most during the transfer window and this year, the trend has continued. We are showing the league to Nigerians and very soon, Nigerians will be going to China to watch the Chinese League live on our bill. Ultimately, if they get it right and they don’t often get it wrong, the Chinese League is going to be one of the biggest in the world. Players are in football because of the money they will get and China is ready to get the best with its money’’.