The eyes of football fans across Asia will be on China this weekend as Shanghai Shenhua and its star striker Nicolas Anelka kick off the most eagerly-awaited Chinese Super League season ever.
The French star arrived in the city of 20 million in January after a high-profile move from English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea one that reportedly made him the highest paid player in the world to signal that Chinese club football has arrived on the international stage.
“There is always pressure in football,” said Anelka, who has also played for Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool. “Wherever I’ve played there have always been high pressure games. Of course, there’s a lot of attention on me right now, but I’m just here to do my best for Shanghai Shenhua, to score goals and play well for the team and the fans.”
Anelka has been joined at the club by fellow Frenchman Jean Tigana, former coach of Monaco and English Premier League club Fulham.
Shanghai may be the story of the CSL, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion that Shenhua will lift the title for the first time since 2003 or even be in contention. The team finished a lowly 11th last season and Lee Jang-soo, coach of champion Guangzhou Evergrande, doubts whether one signing will make a huge difference to his rivals.
“The level of Anelka is very high and Shenhua will be hard to deal with this season,” Lee said. “But I have to say that soccer is a team event and relying on one single player will not help a team win games.”
