Transfer balls: China fires warning shot across Chelsea bows
Big news is that China is buying up footballers, spunking even more cash than desperate foreign-owned English clubs do on mediocre foreign talent.
The Sun leads with “The Great Haul of China”. The shock news is that foreign footballers don’t come to England just for the weather and lap-dancers – they come for the cash. And China has oodles of the stuff. Can Chinese money usurp the Premier League hype factory? The Sun says Chinese club Jiangsu Suning bid £57m for Chelsea’s Oscar.
The Telegraph and Daily Star says that’s not true:
Is it £57m or is it £75m? Or doesn’t £18m matter in the ugly football meat market?
The facts are murky but the money is there. This week Alex Teixeira joined Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar Donetsk in a €50m move. Jiangsu, coached by the former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu, earlier invested €21.5m Ramires from Chelsea.
Jiangsu was established in March 1994. It became Jiangsu Suning F.C in 2015, when the Suning Commerce Group bought it. Suning operates about 1,600 shops in China. It has a market cap of $16.2billion.
Could China pop the Premier League bubble? Would English football fans welcome the end of the money game?
Posted: 5th, February 2016 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
