Spanish defender Alvaro Arbeloa of the La Liga club Real Madrid has reportedly turned down the opportunity to join the Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of the Chinese Super League at the end of the season.

The 33-year-old Spanish football player will be out of contract this summer, with the Los Blancos unlikely to offer Arbeloa a new one.

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Spanish national daily sports newspaper Marca has revealed that the Chinese club was to offer the former Liverpool full-back a remunerative contract for him to make the switch to China. However, the footballer was not prepared to entertain the deal.

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua recently signed Australian Tim Cahill from the New York Red Bulls of the Major League Soccer, Senegalese Demba Ba from the Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas and Colombian Fredy Guarin from Inter Milan.

Recently, rich Chinese Super League clubs have made headlines in the football world for their record-breaking deals for high profile players.

Jiangsu Suning signed Brazilian stars Alex Teixiera and Ramires from Shakhtar Donetsk and Chelsea respectively.  Ramirez signed for the wealthy Chinese side for a reported $35 million deal, while Teixiera inked a deal worth $55 million.

The reigning AFC Champions League and Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande got the services of the Colombian Jackson Martinez from La Liga club Atletico Madrid in a $46 million contract.

Chinese Super League clubs are obviously flexing their monetary muscles to lure high profile talents in different football leagues. We can expect the numbers of footballers making the switch to go up since the transfer window is still open for the CSL until February 26.

But we can also expect some players to turn down lucrative offers, for whatever reason they may have.

TagsShanghai Shenhua, Chinese Super League, real madrid