Young Chinese students play during a match on a practice pitch at the Evergrande International Football School on June 14, 2014 near Qingyuan in Guangdong Province, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Four groups of Chinese investors are locked in a more than $140-million bidding war for one of the world’s most powerful soccer agencies, the U.K.-based Stellar Group, in a move which analysts see as China’s increasing appetite for the sport.
The Chinese bidders include the model car manufacturing firm Rastar Group, which previously purchased a majority stake in Spanish soccer club Espanyol in 2015, according to a report by Reuters on Friday citing an insider source.
The source, which requested for anonymity due to the negotiations not yet made public, declined to disclose the names of the other three investor groups.
The potential investment is seen as a boon to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is an avid soccer fan and publicly expressed his desire for China to one day win the FIFA World Cup. Xi laid out a plan 18 months ago to create a sport industry in China worth $850 billion by 2025.
"This is just the start of China's global sporting and football ambitions and we should expect more of the same over the next five years," said Simon Chadwick, professor of Sports Enterprise at Salford University, Manchester.
Chadwick said that China's sports businesses will emerge soon and own assets across and through the global sports industry.
Once the deal is completed, Stellar Group, founded by famed sports agent Jonathan Barnett, would be a major addition to China's fast-growing roster of global soccer assets that include stakes in England's Manchester City, Spain's Atletico Madrid, and a growing domestic league.
Earlier this month, Chinese businessman Tony Xia bought the cash-strapped English club Aston Villa in a deal estimated to be worth around 60 million to 70 million pounds.
Barnett is described as one of soccer's "super agents," brokering multi-million-dollar deals to trade players between clubs. Stellar Group was behind Gareth Bale's record-shattering $125-million move from the Wales national football team to Real Madrid in 2013.
The deal would give the winning buyer access to soccer's most connected agents and a list of high-profile players at a time when China is investing heavily in grassroots academies, television rights, and transfer deals for overseas stars.
The Chinese Super League, which lags behind European leagues in terms of quality and prestige, spent around 340 million euros ($382 million) in the latest transfer window, far more than the cash-flush English market.
Stellar Group could cost around 900 million yuan ($138 million), the source told Reuters, adding that the prices have only been verbally discussed.
The source also said that Barnett is planning on traveling to China by the end of the month to meet with the potential bidders.
Stellar Group represents hundreds of athletes, including English soccer players Joe Hart, Luke Shaw, Phil Jagielka and Danny Drinkwater, according to German soccer website transfermarkt.com.
