大象传媒

The 大象传媒's Beijing correspondent John Sudworth explains why businessmen and women are increasingly investing in English football.

"There are no shortage of Chinese billionaires these days looking for big acquisitions."

"Football has a huge fan base in China, and has done for a long time, but it is in a pretty dismal state in terms of the home game."

"What's happened that has made the difference is the new Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has come in and made a priority of it."

"Businessmen are now picking up on those political signals. They're looking for the software, they can take the culture, the heritage and eventually use that with political goodwill to reinvest back in China."