IT’S MONEY THAT TALKS FOR CITY IN CHINA, NOT MAKING FRIENDS

MANChESTER CITY left China with a stinging rebuke from state-run press agency, Xinhua. The club were accused of arrogance and an attempt to ‘win wallets, not hearts and minds’. The fact that the criticism was included on Xinhua’s English language website means it was intended to be read here, too.

‘Their appearance in China was nothing more than a commercial obligation, and their lack of enthusiasm and the indifferent treatment of their hosts stands in stark contrast to representatives of other clubs,’ Xinhua noted.

‘Wolves could not do more to engage with fans and Newcastle treated China with the utmost dignity. Today those clubs leave with new-found respect and new fans; Manchester City leave with neither.’

Considering that when City visited in 2016, their hosts prepared a pitch that was so lousy the match with Manchester United could not be played, respect might be considered a two-way street.

What this episode does reveal, however, is a rather surprising naivety about Premier League travels to points east. Everywhere in the world there are hearts and minds. Yet Premier League clubs do not go just anywhere. What interests football is markets.

None of the clubs are in China for a cultural experience, or to make friends, or for any fondly imagined altruistic reasons. Every smile, every pleasantry, every charitable visit, is in some way invoiced. Maybe Manchester City did behave obnoxiously on their trip. Perhaps with elite success comes elite attitudes.

Yet anyone who thinks the Premier League’s Asia Cup — or the International Champions Cup, or any of the pre-season jamborees taking place across continents — are about anything bar the wallets displays an almost touching innocence. Maybe the Chinese believe betting companies who claim to care about keeping football shirts free of advertising, too.