How sustainable is Chinese football ?

The money being poured into Chinese football is one of the biggest stories of the last few months. It has changed the global financial balance of the game.

Chinese Super League clubs spent $280m in the winter transfer window, more than the Premier League.

The services of leading players have been secured, rather than fading stars as in the past.

But how sustainable is this trend? It is largely driven politically by the ambitions of President Xi Jinping to make China a world football power.

There are commercial motives at work.

R & F, Hebei, Evergrande and many other CSL clubs are owned by property developers.

They hope that involvement in football will help them build nationwide brands at a time when the real estate market is struggling.

Many clubs have seen a significant jump in attendances during the opening fixtures this season but ticket prices remain too low to provide a major boost to incomes.

With clubs spending more on foreign players and coaches, the risk is that losses grow faster than revenues.