Teixeira breaks two-day-old Asian transfer record

Two days after Guangzhou Evergrande signed Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez for 42 million euros ($45.8 million), Chinese football broke its own transfer record. On Friday, Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira signed for Chinese club Jiangsu Suning for 50 million euros, breaking the record for the third time in the current window.

"It happened so fast that I still need time to fully comprehend it all. My agent called when I was at the airport on my way to a club training camp," Teixeira said from Spain, where he was bidding farewell to his former Shakhtar teammates.

The midfielder joins a long list of big names to have headed east to ply their trade. Along with Martinez and Ramires, Roma striker Gervinho completed a move to Hebei China Fortune FC last week, while Senegal striker Demba Ba and Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan also moved to China last year.

Teixeira, who was recently linked with a move to Liverpool, opted instead for China.

"People knew I wanted to stay in Europe and move to the Premier League. Unfortunately, all the offers from English clubs were quite vague, so now I am moving to China and hopes of playing for Brazil have moved a bit further away," said the 26-year-old Teixera, who has yet to represent his country.

The midfielder is Jiangsu's second major Brazilian signing in recent weeks after they secured Chelsea midfielder Ramires.

"I have not had a chance to talk to Ramires, so I cannot really say he is a friend of mine. We have not even contacted each other. I just browsed the Internet to learn about the city I am moving to," Teixeira added of his new teammate and home.

Chinese teams have been on a spending spree in claiming top players from around the world and more big signings are expected before the local transfer window closes on February 26.

jh/pfd (Reuters)