China, over the course of the last month, has bought several big name soccer players based in Europe. Two of the biggest were Atletico Madrid’s Jackson Martinez, who had been struggling to find his scoring touch in La Liga, and Shakthar Donetsk’s Alex Teixeira, one of the most heavily sought after players in all of Europe.
One thing that had not happened was a purchase of a Major League Soccer player. That changed though once Shanghai Greenland Shenhua brought Seattle Sounder’s Obafemi Martins for an undisclosed fee. During Martins’ time in Seattle, 40 league goals in a mere 72 appearances and helped his club win the 2014 U.