China rockets into top five buyers of international football talent
China has shot into the world’s top five buyers of international football talent as global spending hits a new record, a FIFA report said Friday.
Official amounts spent on players around the world hit US$4.79 billion (4.47 billion euros) in 2016, up 14.3 per cent on the previous year, according to the annual FIFA Transfer Matching System report.
England’s Premier League clubs ($1.37 billion), Germany ($576 million), Spain ($508.7 million) and Italy ($508.5 million) were again the top spenders. But China’s spending more than doubled in a year to $451 million taking it to fifth place, up from 20th.
Its spending was more than twice the figure of France, which was the winner in transfer revenues. French clubs received $246 million in 2016 to take first place ahead of Portugal on $240 million.
FIFA said Chinese spending “skyrocketed” and that the growth was “unprecedented.”
China’s President Xi Xinping has called for football success to boost the country’s prestige.