China rockets into top five buyers of international football talent

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Singers perform during the closing ceremony at the 2017 China Cup International Football Championship in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:30am, 27 Jan 2017Updated: 3:14pm, 28 Nov 2017

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.

Oscar sits on the pitch during the English Premier League soccer match between Watford and Chelsea at the Vicarage Road stadium in London. The governing body of Chinese soccer plans a series of measures in response to what is termed

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.