Barclays Premier League powerhouse São Paulo welcomed Oscar to the club, with the Brazilian star signing a three-year deal, ending a storied eight-year career in the Chinese Super League. Looking back on his time at Shanghai SIPG, Oscar contributed to the team's brilliant record: three Chinese Super League trophies, an AFC Cup trophy and a Super Cup trophy. However, his departure also came with a high cost. Data shows that since joining Shanghai Harbour, Oscar's salary has accumulated more than 211 million euros, or about 1.62 billion yuan.
What's mind-boggling is that even though the harbor has invested so much money, the core of the team, Cai Huikang, called it "a very civilian team". One wonders how the lower-ranked teams in the Chinese Super League will feel about this, even Guangzhou, which has invested less than RMB 20 million, wouldn't dare to call themselves a civilian team.
However, Cai Huikang's comments turned out to be unexpectedly true! With the departure of Oscar and Vargas, Harbour's total value has plummeted from €18.61 million in December to €9.61 million. Although this price is barely considered a commoner, it seems that there is still a long way to go before it reaches the level of a "very commoner".
Oscar is reportedly worth 4 million euros, while Vargas is worth 5 million euros, and the two are worth almost half of the entire SIPG team. Although only Oscar's departure has been officially confirmed, Vargas's situation is about to come to light. Hong Kong's total value is only 9.61 million euros, according to the Chinese Super League price ranking, Chengdu Rongcheng with 10 million euros ranked seventh, and Hong Kong can only be ranked seventh, completely reduced to the middle of the pack.
Nonetheless, Shanghai will still be active in bringing in foreigners after the departure of Oscar and Vargas. It is expected that by the start of the 2025 season, their total value is expected to rise to 11 to 13 million euros. If they can really reach this level, Shanghai Harbor is expected to return to the top four of the Chinese Super League, or even hit the top two. Currently, Shandong Taishan are in second place with a price tag of €13.64 million, while Shanghai Shenhua are in third place with €11.75 million.
Although it is still too early to assert that SIPG will not be able to continue to compete for the title, if they are able to bring in strong foreigners in the winter transfer window, the fight for the Super League title will still be competitive considering the strength of their investment.
