Guangzhou - Guangzhou Evergrande, which this month returned to the Chinese Super League (CSL) after winning the China League One title, has signed four national team players in its pursuit of a top-four finish.

The four players are Feng Xiaoting, who returned to China after two years in the Korean Professional Football League, former national team goalie Yang Jun, national junior team captain Zhang Fanlin and national team striker Jiang Ning.

"The standard in the CSL is much better than the League One and the competition will be very hard," said the team's Korean coach Lee Jang-soo.

"Our target is to secure a top-six finish in the CSL and fight for a top-four place. And I believe with such strong players our chances of achieving that are much better."

The Guangzhou team was relegated to the second division in February due to match-fixing in 2006. However, its destiny changed rapidly when the Evergrande Group became its new owner.

The club soon signed Lee, who reportedly earns 5 million yuan ($732,118) a year. It then spent 6 million yuan ($880,000) on national team striker Gao Lin before signing Zheng Zhi, a former player for Charlton in England's Football League Championship.

The club also spent $3.5 million on Brazilian Luiz Guilherme da Conceicao Silva, also known as Muriqui, who previously played for Atletico Mineiro in the Campeonato Brasileiro.

With such an expensive lineup, Guangzhou Evergrande won the League One title without losing a match.

Although the club refused to reveal the exact transfer fees, local media said the four new players cost more than 30 million yuan ($4.52 million), while Feng alone cost about 20 million yuan.

China Daily

(China Daily 12/27/2010 page23)