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Business News/ Industry / Media/  How Chinese football is transforming itself, one big European signing at a time
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How Chinese football is transforming itself, one big European signing at a time

The current splurge, has seen Chinese Super League clubs spending nearly 200 million in their ongoing transfer window, exceeding the total spend of EPL clubs in the recently-concluded January window

Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira (centre) warms up during the UEFA Champions League Group. Jiangsu Suning confirmed Teixeira’s signature for a record fee of £37.50 million. Photo: AFPPremium
Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira (centre) warms up during the UEFA Champions League Group. Jiangsu Suning confirmed Teixeira’s signature for a record fee of £37.50 million. Photo: AFP

It’s not for nothing that they call Chinese football “a billionaire’s playground".

Over the last one week, China’s premier football league, the Chinese Super League or CSL, has managed to rattle European football, or world football in general, with its clubs purchasing some of the best known players from across the continent. And for some big money—so much so that the league’s transfer record was broken thrice in a matter of one week.

It began with the purchase of former Chelsea midfielder Ramires, who moved to Jiangsu Suning for a reported fee of £21 million. Days later, he was joined by Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, who swapped a disappointing spell at La Liga club Atletico Madrid for Guangzhou Evergrande. The fee for Martinez is somewhere around £31.50 million. And then, the biggest one yet. Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira, formerly of Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, was recently courted by English clubs including Chelsea and Liverpool. However, on Friday, Jiangsu Suning confirmed his signature for a record fee of £37.50 million. Unlike Ramires and to an extent Martinez, who were frozen out or unsettled in their existing clubs, it was Teixeira’s move that stunned European football, given that the Brazilian was one of the better midfielders in the continent.

Besides the obvious fee attached to these players, the biggest takeaway from these purchases was that Chinese football meant business, moving in with big cash and buying players in the prime of their careers, as opposed to its first wave in 2011, when its clubs signed players who were mostly retired or “over the hill", so to say. That wave included the signing of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba and footballing journeyman Nicolas Anelka, among others.

The current splurge, let’s classify them as the “second wave", has seen these clubs spending nearly £200 million (£198.51 million to be precise) as of Friday in their ongoing transfer window, exceeding the total spend of English Premier League clubs in the recently-concluded January window, which was about £189.62 million. In comparison, Chinese Super League clubs spent only £83million during the last window. And there’s more to come this year, if reports from Europe are to be believed. The Chinese transfer window closes on 26 February, a week before the league is scheduled to start (4 March). While the players signed by the Chinese clubs in the current may not be the Messis, the Neymars and the Cristiano Ronaldos of world football, it is their ability to spend big that has caught global attention. In cliched terms, they represented a “statement of intent" from some of these Chinese clubs.

But why is this happening, you ask?

For a start, money is flowing into the league, which was founded in 2004. In October last year, the league sold its five-year broadcast rights to Ti’ao Dongli for 8 billion yuan, or $1.25 billion, outbidding China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV by offering twice the amount. In comparison, the league sold its rights for 60 million yuan in 2015. The Chinese Super League clubs also have a rather interesting ownership structure, with most of them either owned by state-run corporations (CITIC Group owns Beijing Guoan FC) or publicly or privately traded corporations with interests in real estate or retail, which are state-backed and are given cheaper land in exchange for their support for football.

Besides TV money, at the very heart of this splurge, there’s ambition, which comes from the very top—Chinese president Xi Jinping. Jinping, a passionate football fan known to support Manchester United, wants China to emerge as a footballing superpower, rivaling Europe and the top South American countries by firstly qualifying, later hosting and possibly winning the coveted World Cup one day.

And they’re darn serious about the same. A February 2015 report in The Independent said, “In the past few months, high-level government working group has been set up to tackle the problem (football). Officials have declared football a compulsory part of the national curriculum. About 20,000 football-themed schools are to open by 2017 with the goal of producing more than 100,000 players. Study-abroad programmes have been rolled out, as well as initiatives to lure 35 international stars to China in the next year."

That ambition stems from the pitiable state of Chinese football at the world stage. They are currently ranked 93 in the Fifa rankings, and have only qualified for one World Cup, in 2002. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Friday warned that European clubs have reasons to worry about China’s spending power. He said, “Yes, of course (they should worry). Because China looks to have the financial power to move the whole league of Europe to China, and we are in this job long enough to know that is just a consequence of economic power, and they have that. Will they sustain their desire to do it? Because let’s remember a few years ago, Japan started to do it and they slowed down after. I don’t know how deep the desire in China is. But if it’s a very strong political desire, we should worry."

Additionally, spectator interest in the league has been increasing. According to official figures, the inaugural edition of the league saw an average attendance of 10,838. Last year, during the league’s 11th year, that figure rose to 22,193.

There were other significant moves made last year, where Chinese companies picked up significant stakes in some of Europe’s biggest football clubs, including Manchester City, where City Investment Group, a Chinese consortium (China Media Group and CITIC), picked up 13% stake or £265 million. Other prominent Chinese investment in European clubs include the Rastar Group, which owns 56% stake in Barcelona-based La Liga club Espanyol. China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin of the Dalian Wanda Group, bought 20% stake in Atletico Madrid last year. Likewise, CEFC China Energy Company owns a 60% stake in Czech club Slavia Prague and French club Sochaux is completely owned by Chinese company Ledus. Another Chinese company, United Vansen International Sports Company, is a majority shareholder in Dutch club ADO Den Haag.

Last month, reports suggested that the Portuguese second division, the Segunda Liga, would be rebranded the ‘Ledman ProLiga’ from the next season. Ledman, a Chinese LED-making company, came under criticism for the deal which would see 10 Chinese players and three coaches joining the Portuguese second division clubs next year.

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Published: 08 Feb 2016, 04:57 PM IST
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