Property billionaire Wang Jianlin’s acquisition in 2015 of a 20 per cent stake in Atlético Madrid, one of Spain’s most storied football teams, marked the start of a $2.5bn spending spree on European clubs by a plethora of Chinese tycoons.
Wang’s Dalian Wanda group had long invested in domestic football. But other businessmen, from top deal makers to little-known investors, rushed to join him abroad, taking stakes in or buying out clubs from giants including Manchester City, AC Milan and Inter Milan to lesser names such as Auxerre, Slavia Prague and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
From slick media mogul Li Ruigang, whose China Media Capital invested in Manchester City, to forthright Twitter pundit Tony Xia, who bought Aston Villa, their motives were diverse.