Chinese football clubs stand a good chance of taking over the football world, leading sports marketer Andrew Georgiou said in an interview with Reuters.
In the same breath, Georgiou also said the Super League (CSL) can easily challenge the English Premier League, and that it’s only a matter of time before the world bows down to China.
“I think China has the financial capability to become the biggest league in the world,” Georgiou, the chief executive of Lagardere Sports and Entertainment, told Reuters in an interview last Monday, March 6.
“I think it (the CSL) will overtake the Premier League at some point. The only part that I don’t know is how long it will lake,” Georgiou added.
Georgiou’s company, Lagardere Sports and Entertainment has several standing partnerships with over 100 European football clubs. The company is also working with several Asian confederations.
Chinese football teams are primarily driven by President Xi Jinping, an avid fan of soccer. It’s in his plan to make China the host of the World Cup in 2030 and eventually, the World Cup champion by 2050.
Xi Jinping’s enthusiasm has also affected Chinese clubs, which has spent millions of dollars in order to secure star players for their respective teams. According to TransferMarkt.com, it is estimated that the CSL clubs have spent a combined total of approximately $411 million for transfers alone.
One of the most costly transfers was when Shanghai Shenhua bought Carlos Teves, an Argentinian striker, from Boca Juniors for a reported $88.56 million. The transfer makes Teves the highest paid player in football with a salary that averages $753,000 per week.
Georgiou also attributes China’s growing prominence in football due to the rising affluent middle class in the country.
“So you’ve got a spending power in China that’s so huge, it’s going to dominate. In Europe there's 700 million people but 56 leagues. In China, there’s one league. So you’ve got that spending power focused at the moment on 16 clubs,” Georgiou said.