Football
ESPN staff 8y

Alex Teixeira joins China's Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar for €50m

Alex Teixeira has completed his move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning for a transfer fee of €50 million, Shakhtar Donetsk have announced.

Teixeira, who claimed Shakhtar rejected a £32m bid from Liverpool during the transfer window, joins Ramires at Jiangsu after he moved from Chelsea for €28m.

A short statement on Shakhtar's official website read: "Shakhtar Donetsk and Jiangsu Suning FC have agreed on all the necessary formalities for the transfer of Alex Teixeira to the Chinese club. Transfer fee for the Brazilian midfielder is €50m.

"Shakhtar thank Alex for the time spent in the team and wish him success at his new club."

Teixeira explained why he opted to move to Chinese football despite strong interest from English clubs. 

He said: "Let's put it like this: everyone always knew that I wanted to stay in Europe and move to the English Premier League club. But, unfortunately, all the proposals that came from them, were somewhat windy and did not contain anything concrete.

"Now I have received a serious offer from China. Of course, I'm moving there. At this stage, the Brazil national team will move away from me a little further. But let's see what happens in the future.

"It all happened very quickly, in just a twinkling. I was at the airport, going to the training camp. And my agent phoned me up. He said that Shakhtar had received a €50m offer.

"I immediately wondered whether it would be good for me, my family, the club, and took the appropriate decision. 

"I wanted to make it to the English Premier League one day. But until now, all my thoughts have been focused on Shakhtar. As I said, everything happens so fast that I don't even have time to realise it.

"Despite the fact that it all took place at a lightning speed, I would not say that it was very easy. I just had to respond quickly. But leaving the people with whom I have worked for so many years and who helped me grow, with whom I made friends is, of course, difficult. This is still on my mind."

As recently as Wednesday, Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu had denied reports that Teixeira would move to China and would stay with the Ukraine club for the rest of the season.

Liverpool shelved their efforts to sign the player after Shakhtar rejected their bid, with boss Jurgen Klopp saying he felt his club's offer had been "realistic."

The €50m fee is reportedly a record paid for a player by any Asian club, breaking the mark set on Tuesday when Guangzhou Evergrande signed striker Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid for €42m.

Fredy Guarin and Gervinho have also moved to China in the winter transfer window.

Sources have told ESPN FC that PSG's Ezequiel Lavezzi is also lining up a move to China, as the transfer window there remains open until Feb. 26.

^ Back to Top ^