MX23RW : Tuesday, February 5 23:03:19

Players who have swapped the Premier League for China

Players who have swapped the Premier League for China
© Reuters
Marouane Fellaini is the latest player to move between the two leagues.

Marouane Fellaini has brought his five-and-a-half year spell with Manchester United to an end with a move to Chinese Super League outfit Shandong Luneng.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at other players currently with clubs in China having headed there from the Premier League.

PAULINHO

After two years with Tottenham, the Brazil midfielder left to join Guangzhou Evergrande in the summer of 2015 for a fee of 14 million euros (£9.9million at the time). He won the league twice, then made a surprise switch to Barcelona in 2017, before returning to Guangzhou a year later on a season-long loan.

RAMIRES

Paulinho's compatriot Ramires signed for Jiangsu Suning from Chelsea in January 2016 in a deal believed to be worth £25m – a Chinese Super League record that would be broken twice in the following 10 days. The midfielder, who had been with Chelsea since 2010, was sent off on his Jiangsu debut before helping his new club finish runners-up behind Guangzhou that season.

GRAZIANO PELLE

Italy striker Pelle moved to Fellaini's new employers Shandong for £13m in July 2016, having scored 30 goals in 81 appearances for Southampton after joining from Feyenoord two seasons earlier. The 33-year-old netted 16 times for Shandong in 2018.

OSCAR

Another Brazilian to leave Chelsea for China, Oscar moved to Shanghai SIPG in January 2017 after finding himself out of favour with then Blues manager Antonio Conte. Chelsea cashed in as they received a reported £52m, which gave them a handsome profit of around £30m on the playmaker they bought from Internacional in 2012. Last year he helped Shanghai SIPG become Super League champions.

ODION IGHALO

Odion Ighalo
Odion Ighalo scored 15 Premier League goals for Watford in 2015-15 (Adam Davy/PA)

Having scored 15 Premier League goals for Watford in 2015-16 and then managed only one in the first part of the following season, Nigeria striker Ighalo joined Changchun Yatai in January 2017. He has fared well on the goals front in the Chinese top flight, hitting 15 in 2017 and 21 last year – although the latter campaign saw Changchun get relegated.

MOUSA DEMBELE

The 31-year-old Belgium midfielder moved from Tottenham to Guangzhou R&F last month. Dembele, who would have been out of contract in the summer, had been with Spurs since 2012.

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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool25195156154162
2Manchester CityMan City25192466204659
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs25190651242757
4Chelsea25155545232250
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd25146549351448
6Arsenal25145651361547
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2511593332138
8Watford259793334-134
9Everton2596103636033
10Bournemouth25103123744-733
11Leicester CityLeicester2595113031-132
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham2595113138-732
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2576122736-927
14Crystal Palace2575132633-726
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2566132133-1224
16Southampton2559112742-1524
17Burnley2566132646-2024
18Cardiff CityCardiff2564152246-2422
19Fulham2545162555-3017
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2525181346-3311

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