OPINION: Does the Chinese Super League threaten the quality of the Premier League?

Money would be thrown around by Premier League teams in an attempt to clinch the prestigious honour of Premier League champions.

Even the ‘lesser’ teams in the league would splash the clash in order to survive in the world’s biggest league.

However these days the giant that is the Premier League has a new challenger, The Chinese Super League.

It seems like every day lately that a huge Premier League or world football star is being linked with a move to the Far East.

Diego Costa was apparently the latest, with there being huge rumours that Tianjin Quanjian had made a bid for the striker and were reportedly offering him £30million a year in wages.

Costa joined a long list of Premier League top stars that have been linked with various Chinese Super League teams. Yaya Toure, Wayne Rooney, Dele Alli and Harry Kane have all also been linked.

Although the Premier League is regarded by many as the best league in the world, the vast amount of money on offer for these players is starting to turn their heads.

Money is a big part of the game these days and these Chinese teams have it in abundance.

The Premier League has seen competition like this before, with the MLS offering players huge wages in a bid to get them to move over to the U.S. and boost their brand. This was a challenge the Premier League was able to see off as it was generally players coming to the end of their careers that made the move.

The Chinese Super League’s approach is somewhat different though, signing players that are in the prime years of their career.

This could present more of a challenge to the Premier League than ever before and also test the integrity of players of this and future generations.

Do they want to play good football and at a higher level? Or do they want to earn more money they could ever have imagined?

While the Chinese Super League may not yet be a major player in world football, it is definitely something to keep an eye on.