Latest China faux pas could keep Man City lagging behind Europe's elite

It's now pretty customary for Premier League clubs and the elite of Europe to undertake a yearly pilgrimage to the promised lands of Asia and North America hungry to attract legions of new fans and helping to boost the coffers with a few more shirt sales and TV subscriptions.

China with it's 1 billion+ population represents the holy grail of markets in pretty much any industry and it would appear that football is no different. Depending on which stats you believe anywhere between 100million and 300million Chinese consider themselves as football fans and according to brandfinance.com 56% of those supporters follow a Premier League side with Manchester United able to call 46% of the market their own

United have forged this kind of support not only through their success on the pitch, at least within years gone by, but by a carefully orchestrated media campaign. That kind of persistence paid dividends in 2016 when the club signed a deal with one of China's largest sports media platforms Sina Sport that allowed it's users the ability to access MUTV and watch all the clubs league games. In more recent times United have also been the first club to launch a Mandarin Chinese app. While their performances on the pitch have been on the slide, their ability to maintain a solid global fanbase is why they remain 3rd in the Deloitte rich list of clubs.

By comparison, Man City now a dominant force in world football are lagging behind their city rivals off the pitch. In China the Citizens don't come close to ranking in the top 5 football clubs in regards mentions on the popular Chinese social media platform Weibo in a study that took place last year. As such their pre-season tour of China that was just completed was not only a chance to demonstrate their prowess on the pitch but to win some hearts and minds within the Chinese fanbase.

Unfortunately, those attempts seem to have backfired dreadfully with the team being accused of rudeness and a lack of engagement with local supporters during and after the games. The rap sheet for City that is now doing the rounds on Chinese media and social media alike includes

• Failing to send players to help out at a local U-12 tournament (Newcastle and West Ham both did)
• Not spending time signing autographs unless it was with VIP ticket holders i.e people who had paid for the privilege
• Sending a junior press officer as opposed to high ranking club official to meet with senior Chinese delegates
• Limiting or in some cases excluding the access that Chinese press had to the team while granting greater access to Western journalists
• Giving a presentation on the future of Man City in China that seemed to view the country only from the point of view of it being a money-making opportunity for the club
• Not allowing access to anyone but commercial partners to what was supposed to be an open training session

To say that the Chinese media is pissed with the actions of City would be an understatement.

I myself lived for 5 years in China and I can tell you the backlash from these kind of things can snowball pretty quickly. I remember arriving in 2008 just before the Beijing Olympics to find Chinese customers boycotting the French supermarket Carrefour following protests in France against perceived human rights violations when the Olympic torch passed through Paris. More recently comments by Donald Trump and the ongoing trade war between the US and China have sparked boycotts of Apple products. Once the Chinese are offended they don't tend to forget very easily!

Of course, this isn't the first time that a club have got themselves into trouble. Chelsea's young Brazilian Kenedy got himself and his side into hot water this time 2 years ago when he posted this picture on social media.

And former Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan didn't exactly endear himself or the club to many people of Chinese origin by suggesting that the term "Chinks" was still an acceptable name in the 21st century

While these 2 examples represent a more obvious insult to the Chinese market, the case of City demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Chinese traditional values. The term guanxi 关系 roughly meaning relationships is an essential part of doing business in China. This is a country where developing and maintaining social connections and relationships defines an organization's success just as much if not more than having the best product or in this example the best footballers.

That being the case whoever it was that masterminded City's approach to this tour could and probably should be receiving their P45 in the mail any day soon as they seem to have spectacularly failed to establish any 关系 whatsoever during this trip.

"those clubs" refers to West Ham, Newcastle and Wolves who have all drawn praise for the efforts they made to engage with Chinese supporters - John Brewin is a freelance journalist who writes for The Guardian

As I say these will not be easy actions for the side to row back from and despite the clubs obvious financial advantages via the Sheikh's seemingly endless funds, I can't believe that businessmen as successful as he and his family are will be happy to have thrown away a golden chance to stake their claim in such a huge market place. It's all about money and status for these guys and City will have a tough job usurping the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United and Bayern Munich at the top of that list without Chinese support.