Fears over Mikel as Chinese Super League plans to limit number of foreign players

John Obi Mikel’s future is already a subject of speculation, barely one month after he joined Tianjin TEDA , after it emerged that the Chinese Football Association (CFA), is set to reduce the number of foreign players teams can field in each match.


Chinese media have reported that the CFA will only allow three foreigners play any league game and teams will only be allowed to have five non-Chinese footballers in their squad.

The current rule allows Chinese clubs to field four foreign players in each game, with one of the slots reserved for a player from another Asian country.

This is expected to disrupt transfer plans of many teams, with two months left before the start of the new season. The new season will kick off on March 4.

The transfer window opened on January 1 and many of the 16 top-flight sides have brought in players from Australia, Uzbekistan and South Korea to fill their Asian spots.