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Jonathan White

Paul Pogba is known as the bellwether for haircuts, emojis and the mood of the Manchester United dressing room.
He might also be representative of footballers in general when it comes to pre-season tours of China.
It’s been reported that the wantaway World Cup winner has refused to get a visa for his current club’s summer sojourn to Shanghai.
Pogba is said to be much keener on Madrid than Manchester these days and is trying to force a move through to Zinedine Zidane’s side, something made easier by not going to the other side of the world. It certainly won’t be the last bizarre story to come out of tours to China this summer.
In fairness, Pogba has no issue with China.
He was happy enough to travel here in the summer of 2017 as part of his commercial obligations with Adidas.

The Allianz China Cup, due to take place on May 29th in Beijing, has been postponed. A new date will be announced in due course. pic.twitter.com/gIMWU1uqUm
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) 26 April 2019

He followed players such Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have made regular trips to the country over the last decade, with the Argentine’s theme park set to open next year.
That is the obvious driver for much of the pre- and post-season visits to the mainland.
Are the clubs becoming as savvy as their star players? Not exactly.
Bayern Munich were announced to be playing a game against the China national team later this month for the Allianz China Cup, the insurance giant being a sponsor of the Bavarian giants.
The game, which was announced on April 1, has since been pushed back to a later date.
Bayern are one of the most popular teams in China and some of their fellow Bundesliga sides want in on the action.
The club had announced the game and it was being publicised in Western media before the backtrack.
Obstacles included the rather large one of the Chinese FA not knowing about the game and the date in question, May 29, falling in between two Chinese Super League fixtures.
Bayern also have the small matter of the German Cup final to play on May 25, making a trip from Germany a touch more inconvenient.
Bayern are one of the most popular teams in China and some of their fellow Bundesliga sides want in on the action. 
Eintracht Frankfurt have arranged a post-season tour of China from May 22 to 27 with a game against Wolfsburg in Foshan, Guangdong, on May 24.
The club once known as the Moody Diva might live to regret that.
They are level at 1-1 after their Europa League semi-final first leg against Chelsea and if they go through then they will have to play the final in Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29.
That travel, switch in time zones and disruption to their schedule would not be ideal preparation for the first team – or it means that the Chinese fans will not see any of those stars, making the whole exercise somewhat pointless.
Half-hearted players in a half-empty stadium serves no one but despite the obvious issues, the tours will keep coming.
It doesn’t necessarily get any easier when the teams get on the ground in China.
Facilities are an obvious concern. Manchester United and Manchester City had to call off their game in Beijing in 2016 because of an unplayable surface at Beijing’s National Stadium in an episode that embarrassed all concerned, especially as it only happened on the day of the game.
It was such a farce that then Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho refused to return to Asia instead opting for pre-season tours to the US.
That’s changed now Mourinho has been replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the club head back to Shanghai this summer.
Then there’s the risk of social media gaffes from the players, as Chelsea found to their cost when Kenedy showed the wit of a waterlogged pitch and racially abused some Chinese folks on their trip to Beijing.

ℹ️"Allianz China Cup" against the China national team - #FCBayern to visit Beijing on 29th May 2019
https://t.co/dOtqZLqsXP #packmas pic.twitter.com/7dXxX1Z1Ks
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) 1 April 2019

That’s not a way to build good will with Chinese fans. Then again neither are ticket prices.
Even a hardcore Wolfsburg or Eintracht Frankfurt fan would baulk at having to pay 480 yuan for the most expensive ticket for their game.
But that is nothing compared to the price of tickets for Manchester United and Spurs in the International Champions Cup in Shanghai.
The cheapest are 499 yuan (US$74) and the most expensive are 2,399 yuan (US$356) but some ticket websites are sold out and they might go for more than face value. 
For most fans, who can’t afford to travel to England this will be one of the few chances they have to watch their team in the flesh so it is a price they have to bear but many more have been turned off by the exorbitant cost.
The English Premier League has committed to “affordable prices” for their Asia Trophy games in Nanjing and Shanghai but it remains to be seen what exactly they will be.
Half-hearted players in a half-empty stadium serves no one but despite the obvious issues, the tours will keep coming.
Even though they are not everyone’s cup of tea, all of the clubs and their growing number of commercial partners in China want a slice of the cake.


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Man City, Juventus ‘exploring summer options’ over Hong Kong Football Festival

English Premier League

China crisis: Paul Pogba and Bayern Munich no-shows would do nothing to help the cause of European giants visiting this summer

With Manchester United’s Paul Pogba supposedly Madrid-bound, the chances of Shanghai football fans seeing the Frenchman in the flesh are slim. Photo: Reuters

Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi runs with the ball during the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg football match between Barcelona and Liverpool at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona on May 1, 2019. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

epa07532981 Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the Italian Serie A soccer match FC Inter vs Juventus FC at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, Italy, 27 April 2019. EPA-EFE/MATTEO BAZZI

Sport

Football


Supporters are being put off by high ticket prices to see teams shorn of their star players
With schedules set to clash, the final line-up of China pre-season games hasn’t been confirmed



Supporters are being put off by high ticket prices to see teams shorn of their star players


Spanish La Liga

Italian Serie A

German Bundesliga

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

The East Stand

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Supporters are being put off by high ticket prices to see teams shorn of their star players With schedules set to clash, the final line-up of China pre-season games hasn’t been confirmed

Supporters are being put off by high ticket prices to see teams shorn of their star players

With schedules set to clash, the final line-up of China pre-season games hasn’t been confirmed