Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is hoping the high quality of competition in Europe will keep players from leaving for the financial gain in China.
Wenger is facing regular questions about the future of both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, and the big money on offer in the Chinese league can complicate negotiations.
Argentine striker Carlos Tevez joined Shanghai Shenhua last month in a deal worth $40 million over two years.
« The danger (is) that the Chinese offers become the benchmark for Europe, » Wenger said Thursday. « You cannot compete with that, but I still think that, when you’re a footballer, the first thing is that you want to play against the best players in the best teams. »
Wenger said players that want the best compensation for playing in the best quality league need not look to Asia.
« I think that combination is the best in England at the moment, so I don’t see why the players should leave the English Premier League, » Wenger said.
Wenger, whose team is fourth in the standings, has made only one signing in the January transfer window, picking up defender Cohen Bramall from non-league club Hednesford.
Arsenal has also decided to keep captain Per Mertesacker for another season. Wenger announced Thursday that the club has taken up a one-year option to extend the contract of the 32-year-old German, who has not played this season because of a knee injury sustained during a friendly in July.
Mertesacker faces a fight to get back into the team because Shkodran Mustafi, an offseason signing from Valencia, has built a strong partrnership with vice captain Laurent Koscielny at the heart of Wenger’s defense.
