Not sure that will go through, at least for now. Not having a budget cap is what is helping the league grow and become potentially relevant. That would perhaps make sense once the league is strong enough to attract players for competitive reasons or if serious imbalances between teams appear, but until then this madness is beneficial for them.

Ricardo Carvalho, aged 38, is also going to China. I honestly didn't know he was still active

free agent since summer
looks like the chinese pick up everything they can get their hands on, even the leftovers

I understand why he went, he is 38 after all, smart move to get the most cash before retirement.

Well, they try their best to make the league interesting.

Sooner or later, without any budget caps, theres gonna be big stars over there. Not big as Oscar, but perhaps big as Pogba or Bale

Yep, it's perfectly understandable; at this point of his career he's not going to find a better or more competitive team than Shanghai. Any european club willing to pick him up would be a small one and could not possibly motivate a man who has already won everything in top level football, so going for the money and a different experience seems like the right choice.

Pato gold digger confirmed

would do the same
when you can choose between 2 different payouts for the same job i would also take the better one
dont forget for many players its like a job
cant renember but there was a famous soccer player who said that he hates playing soccer but its his job and he wouldnt get the money if he would have a normal job

The more we know about the transfer, the more it seems like Villarreal convinced him to move.

Pato received a better offer from China in the summer, but refused it so he could keep playing top level football. Now when he received a lesser offer he suddenly lost his playtime, until he finally decided to leave.

I don't think that he's unhappy with the move, but it seems like Villarreal made it very clear to him that he wasn't needed the moment a rich chinese club knocked on their door.

still the best post here. well done sir.