Prominent football player agent Ritchie Hinton says China’s football explosion is here to stay and says the astronomical amounts of money being thrown at players is not necessarily a bad thing.
Representing the likes of Alex Wilkinson, Luke Brattan and Gui Finkler, Hinton says “everything has a number” after Chinese Super League clubs last week broke the national transfer record three times.
“What we have to understand is when you’re being offered ten times your salary to go to China, and you’ve only got a 10-12 year career…I challenge anyone to turn down that kind of money,” he said.
“They’re not going there to double their money, we’re talking multiples of ten.”
“I don’t think we have to be super-negative about it. If this level of player continues to go there, and we’ve got some serious players there…you’re going to increase the quality of the league.”
Listen to the chat below:
The Chinese government, led by football-loving President Hu Jintao, have declared a mandate that within 24 years they’d like to win a World Cup, let alone qualify for one. Hinton says the increasing spending by Chinese clubs is very much “politically driven” as it is football.
“The big change has been the President of China, Hu Jintao is a huge football fan. And the Chinese national team was an embarrassment for him.”
“As he came to power he made it very well known that he liked football, therefore as happens in these countries, all the clubs, all the regions, all the politicians try and ingratiate themselves with the big boys in Beijing…oh we like football too!”
Catch today’s FULL Daily Football Show below – including Matt Windley, Ritchie Hinton Melbourne City’s salary cap, Alex Wilkinson, Luis Garcia and more!
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