With a surge in the number of European players joining the Chinese Super League, there might be expectations that the Chinese clubs would be the most popular in the country.
However, a new report from Mailman (via Liverpool Echo) suggests that it still is the European clubs that have the upper hand in terms of popularity in China.
Even though the Chinese Super League is stated to be one of the wealthiest leagues in the world, there are a number of Premier League sides that sit in the top 10 popular sides in the country.
Liverpool are tied in third place with Arsenal when it comes to popularity while it is Manchester United that have replaced Bayern Munich as the most popular club in China.
The ranking in popularity came through data acquired from Chinese social media platforms WeChat and Weibo.
In what could be a bit of a surprise, Manchester City, make up the top five. Real Madrid, AC Milan, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund are also in the top 10 while Barcelona languishes in 10th position in terms of popularity.
Ronaldo the most popular in China
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar is the most popular player in the country and is unsurprisingly ahead of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Gareth Bale.
Wayne Rooney features in the top five too with Anthony Martial. The Manchester United captain was linked with a big money move to China but recently came out to state that he would stay in England for the foreseeable future.
No Liverpool player made it to the list of most popular players but that would not hurt the Reds a lot. Liverpool still are one of the most popular clubs in Asia and have a huge following in the countries of Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
Mailman’s head of sport Dave Hornby spoke to the BBC (via Liverpool Echo) and stated that the English sides are still lagging behind in terms of engagement in China, while the Bundesliga clubs have done extremely well.
“The Premier League is complacent. Its clubs have decent numbers of followers on Weibo, but not as high engagement.
“The Bundesliga clubs are far more active. The German league tells its clubs what to do, whereas the respective Premier League clubs are in control of what they do.”
Even though the likes of Oscar, Hulk and Carlos Tevez have joined the Chinese Super League over recent months, there are concerns that the league still isn’t popular enough and isn’t growing as quickly as it should.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I95qvc9hmMY
