Arsene Wenger is confident that it will take years to build the Chinese football culture to compete with the major leagues with Europe.
Since the transfer window has opened a number of star players have been linked with a move from China. Chelsea recently sold their midfielder Oscar to Shanghai SIPG for a sum of £60m. The Blues striker Diego Costa was also the subject of interest from Tianjin Quanjian and they were ready to splash a staggering £30m a year for his sevice.
Premier League is the most popular league in the world. But the growing emergence of China could provide a stiff competition to them. Fat pay packets and luxurious lifestyle could lure the player but Wenger thinks that China needs more time to be at par with the other European Leagues.
He said, “You do not create a top league [just] like that.
“Professional football in England has been created 150 years ago. And we still struggle. I believe it’s a slow process of creating a football culture.
“Football is quite strange because you are educated as a little boy by your parents, you hear about football and you give that to the next generations. And that takes time to be really a part of the population. In China it’s new.
“It was the third year of professional football in Japan. And you expect reflexes from people that are not there.
“We do not know if in 10 years China will still do it. Sometimes it’s a political decision that can change. I personally am very happy [about China’s growth], and I expect India to come to the game. And I hope it will happen.”
