China seem to be paying crazy money and wages for players at the minute and it puzzles me. I note with interest that Oba has just doubled his weekly wage by moving there. Is it a basic case of the TV audience being massive in China so lots of money is starting to flood into the game? Are there Arab or Chinese oligarchs bankrolling things? At this moment in time the only reason a player would move to China is for money.. surely?. It’s basically a forgotten league and most people outside of China couldn’t name the top 3 sides in that country. Have I missed something here?
The government are trying to increase the profile. Basically, if you want to ruin your career but make a fortune you go there. Can't see the fascination with the place myself. It's a ****hole.
Agree, did a bit of travelling years back and it was fcuking mess once you got outside of the shopping centre bits. It was the farting and spitting and belching all over the place that got me, old women, girls and boys, everyone was just either coughing their guts up or farting for China. It was funny at first but then it just started to make be feel sick. Sitting on a bus, next to an old woman couching up a lung for 2 hours, is not pleasant i can tell you.
Worlds largest economy. Massive financial backing. Football is big business world wide - its trade links to the biggest organisations etc is huge. Its a vehicle for much more than just a ball being kicked about. How do you revolutionise football to take advantage of this? Get the best players you can by paying the biggest fees and wages. It will start with the mercenaries, it may stay that way (like Russia to some extent). The chinese economics methods are seriously aggressive though and they will believe they can simply buy a slice of the pie that the European big leagues are dividing up between themselves. It is difficult to see but the sheet weight of numbers etc make it a very real competitor in financial terms. The best players tend to leave that to career end though and always have. There is sporting angle with history behind it which money finds difficult to buy. One thing is for sure though. There will be plenty more Lavezzi's, Ramires etc over the coming years. Their attitude will be "**** it, if I don't like it I'll do a 6 month stint and jump ship a whole lot richer"
Chinese industrialists rather than oil money, as far as I'm aware. You're talking about a few people - and there only needs to be 15 or so given the number of teams - who control the world's biggest workshop; profits are off the charts, as is wealth, and football is the great source of unity. The world can identify with you and will watch you if you have big name footballers. Wenger thinks it's real, unlike the US league, because there's not really a national sport that competes. Their traditional strength in track, field and gymnastics has communist roots that the "new chinese" don't really like; football represents a modern new world. At the end of the day, a lot of footballers are greedy. Scratch that - a lot of HUMANS are greedy. We want as much money as we can get, China offers more than most so a lot of players who are nomadic will be happy to go. I think it's great for the PL. The mercenaries will be attracted East and those in it for more than $$$ will be joining the best clubs.
Isn't the Chinese economy in freefall?! The stock market went down the ****ter a month or two back. It would be an odd exercise in economic stimulation to make the football teams buy good football players. These commies do have some ridiculous ****ing ideas for attention seeking on the world scene though.
There is plenty of money in the Chinese economy and loads of interest in footie. Apparently they would like to improve the quality and prestige of their domestic league in the hope they can be chosen for a future World Cup. The way FIFA is they would probably be better sticking the money in a big pot to bribe the next president.
What they don't tell these players before they sign - Daily cardio involves running the length of the Great Wall. Failure to complete leads to public flogging.
China is a gravy-train for money-greedy footballers. It's nothing like the Premier League... oh wait...
