'CHINESE CLUB TO BREAK $100M BARRIER'

Shanghai Shenhua forward Tim Cahill says it is only a matter of time before a Chinese club spends $100 million on a player.

The record for most expensive transfer fee in the Chinese Super League (CSL) has been broken four times in the last month, with a number of high-profile stars arriving from Europe.

Shanghai SIPG were the first to break the previous record with the €18million signing of Elkeson from Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, before Jiangsu Suning (€28m for Ramires), Evergrande (€42m for Jackson Martinez) and Suning (€50m for Alex Teixeira) eclipsed the record fee each time.

Gervinho and Fredy Guarin also made moves to the CSL in January, joining the likes of Paulinho, Demba Ba, Stephane Mbia and Asamoah Gyan who played there last season.

And Cahill, who could be joined by Paris Saint-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi at Shenhua, said the transfer fees will continue to rise.

"When I first went to China I knew the vision, I knew what was behind it and I knew what they wanted to do. To see where it's come to now and where we're at, it's pretty crazy," the Australia international told Fox Sports.

"They've got the power and when they want something, they get it and when they don't want something they get rid of it. It's pretty much like a revolving door, you see a lot of players coming in and a lot of players going.

"It's crazy to see but this is only going to get worse. This is going to be massive, soon they'll break the $100million mark easily."

The 36-year-old said the decision by players to go to China was purely about money, and has warned them about the living conditions in the country.

"The choices that players are making are not about football like it was in my day, they're purely about personal gains and it depends what you want as an individual," Cahill said.

"Is it going to help players? No. Is it going to be big for the country? Yes.

"Players have got different ideas and you have to be able to live in China as well. I live in Shanghai, it's a big city. Some of the other areas are a bit tough and we'll see how long they last."