Hebei China Fortune Boss Manuel Pellegrini Admits No Chinese Team Is Equipped to Compete in La Liga

Hebei China Fortune manager Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that no team in the Chinese Super League would be equipped to compete in La Liga.

Pellegrini took over as manager of Hebei China Fortune back in 2016, and in his first season the Chilean led his side to a fourth place finish. The Chinese Super League has grown in popularity over the years, which has seen many of the top stars in the game make a move to China - along with the money. 

Despite the financial power and the attraction of bringing in the likes of Ramires and recently departed Carlos Tevez, Pellegrini has admitted that not one team in the league would be equipped to handle themselves in La Liga, as quoted by Marca.

"There isn't a single Chinese team that is equipped to compete in La Liga; Chinese teams lack 20 or 30 years of development."

Guangzhou Evergrande are the top team in China, and despite winning the league for the past seven years in a row, Pellegrini still believes that they are not good enough for Spain's top division. 

The lure of China has attracted many over the years, however it has not been hungry young talented players, for the most part it has been players nearing the end of their career looking for a pay day.

Former Shanghai Shenhua star Tevez recently admitted that his time in China was a 'holiday', with the Argentine making an incredible £41m while playing in the Chinese Super League.

The money that has been pumped into the league simply has been overshadowing the underlying issue, and that is that the Chinese players simply aren't good enough. China have never pulled up any trees in the World Cup, and it's fair to say that they won't be winning the competition anytime soon. 

The focus should be on improving the players technically, like they do in Germany, and maybe one day China could be a force on the international stage, which would therefore improve the standard of the Chinese Super League.