If the Chinese Super League was not the hottest soccer destination outside Europe before this summer transfer window opened, it is now. The infusion¹ of big name players and world famous coaches has gathered speed, and attendances continue to climb along with the league's international profile. The big stars seem to come and go, but the spending continues.

如果在今年夏季转会窗口开放前，中超联赛还不算是除欧洲以外最热门的转会目的地，现在可以说是了。越来越多的大牌球员和世界知名教练进入中国，中超联赛的观众人数和国际声誉都在提升。这些明星人物似乎没有久留的打算，但大手笔的投入仍在继续。

Shanghai S.I.P.G., coached by former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson, broke the Asian transfer record in July to sign Asamoah Gyan, the captain of Ghana's World Cup team, from Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, spending over $20 million. City rivals Shenhua spent what was believed to be around $16 million to sign former Chelsea striker Demba Ba while Guangzhou Evergrande, going for a fifth straight title and now coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, brought in the Brazilian internationals Paulinho and Robinho.

今年7月，上海上港集团足球俱乐部打破亚洲转会纪录，以超过2000万美元（约合1.27亿元人民币）的价格签下在阿联酋艾因俱乐部踢球的加纳国家队队长阿萨莫阿·吉安。上港队教练为前英格兰队主帅斯文-戈兰·埃里克森。同城死敌上海申花俱乐部以据说大约1600万美元的价格签下前切尔西队前锋登巴·巴，而由路易斯·菲利佩·斯科拉里执教的广州恒大足球俱乐部力争赢得五连冠，引入了巴西国脚保利尼奥和罗比尼奥。

The Sept. 12 clash between first-place Shanghai S.I.P.G. and second-place Guangzhou should be crucial in the title race and adds a fresh chapter to an intriguing² coaching rivalry³. While in charge of England, Eriksson was eliminated from three successive international tournaments at the quarterfinal stage by Scolari — at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, the former with Brazil the latter with Portugal, and the 2004 European Championships. Depriving Scolari of a fourth straight win over him and perhaps Guangzhou of a fifth straight title would be a major result for the Swede and Shanghai.

排名榜首的上海上港队将在9月12日对阵排名第二的广州恒大队，这应该是冠军争夺战中至关重要的一场比赛，给引人入胜的教练对抗增添新篇章。埃里克森执教英格兰国家队时，连续三次在国际赛事四分之一决赛中被斯科拉里淘汰--2002年世界杯与巴西队的比赛、2006年世界杯与葡萄牙队的比赛及2004年欧洲足球锦标赛。终结斯科拉里对他的四连胜、也许还有广州恒大的五连冠，对于这名瑞典人及上海上港队来说会是十分重要的成果。

The high-profile international signings strengthen the top Chinese clubs, which can now compete with their Japanese and South Korean counterparts in the Asian Champions League. But China still struggles to match the continent's best national teams. On Aug. 2, a full strength China team playing at home in Wuhan lost 2-0 to an experimental South Korean team; China has defeated its neighbor just once in 29 meetings.

知名国际球星的加入增强了中国顶级足球俱乐部的实力，它们现在可以在亚洲冠军联赛中与日本及韩国的俱乐部一较高下。但中国仍旧难以对抗亚洲最棒的国家队。8月2日，全力应战的中国队在武汉主场以0比2的比分输给了尚未定型的韩国队；在29场中韩对抗中，中国队仅赢了一场。

Dejan Damjanovic, who was the top striker in South Korea's K-League from 2007 to 2013 before leaving F.C. Seoul for China, believes that the imports can help raise standards of the locals if given time. “The Chinese Super League is improving with talented foreign players, but the national team needs more time because domestic players from Korea and Japan are still better than Chinese,” he said. “But high-class foreigners can help them grow as players.”

2007年至2013年韩国K联赛最佳射手德扬·达米亚诺维奇离开首尔FC队来到中国。他认为，如果多给些时间，引进的球员能够帮助提高中国球队的水平。“随着外籍球星的到来，中超联赛的水平不断提高，但中国国家队需要更多时间，因为韩国和日本的球员的水平要比中国球员高，”他说。“但一流外国球员能够帮助他们成长。”

Top foreign stars tend not to linger, however. Robinho, formerly⁴ of Real Madrid, Manchester City and A.C. Milan, impressed for his country at the Copa America earlier in the summer and arrived on a six-month contract. Others players of his stature⁵ also tend to leave China after brief stints⁶.

然而顶级外国球星往往不会停留。今年夏季早些时候，曾效力于皇家马德里、曼城和AC米兰的罗比尼奥代表国家队出征美洲杯，表现十分出众，他与中国俱乐部签署了一份为期六个月的合同。其他同等水平的球员也常常在短暂停留后离开中国。

“If you look at the turnover⁷ of foreign players in China, it's quite ridiculous. ” said Erik Paartalu, an Australian midfielder with Tianjin Teda. “Even if you have done well at a club, the agents get hungry and try and move you around to better their bank accounts.”

“如果你去看看外国球员在中国的流动率，会觉得十分荒唐，“天津泰达队澳大利亚籍中场队员埃里克·帕尔塔鲁说。“即便你在一家俱乐部的表现非常好，经纪人也不会满足，他们会试图让你转会，以获得更多回报。”

Still, there is little doubt that the new wave of imports makes a difference in the short term. Big names bring big excitement, an increased profile for the league and, most important, fans — the average attendance of the league has risen to almost 23,000 this season from 16,000 in 2009, just before the current wave of spending started.

但新一轮引进潮在短期内带来的影响是毫无疑问。大牌球星带动了气氛，增加了联赛知名度，最重要的是，吸引了大批粉丝，在最近出资引入球员之前，中超联赛这一赛季到场观众平均达到将近2.3万人，而2009年只有1.6万人。