Contact Admin. S panish teams may have been knocking English teams out of Europe this season but challenging the Premier League in Asia is a much tougher prospect. The prospect of competitive games, unprecedented loan deals, genuine partnerships, corporate deals, extensive social media engagement as well as the obvious attractions of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, constitute a mobile challenger that has to be taken seriously.
Last month Manchester United said the Saudi striker Mohammad al-Sahlawi would train with them for three weeks. That is nothing. In January nine Saudi Arabian players were sent to clubs in the top two tiers in Spain on loan.
Individual clubs involved were soon announcing sponsorship deals with Saudi companies. They are humbler and readier to treat Asian counterparts on a more equal footing than their predecessors in Spain and some of their counterparts in England. La Liga is learning and so is Asia. We can also help bring them closer to Thailand fans. There are challenges, as Tan admits. English football is more competitive and there are different clubs for Chinese fans but only two in Spain.
Few would deny that the quality on the pitch is higher in Spain but that is not the prime factor off it. Spain has to try to cancel out certain in-built advantages that the Premier League has. England colonised large parts of the continent and that connection still exists.
Very few Asian journalists speak Spanish. Almost all will be able to read and understand English Premier League reports, rumours and comments, and to repeat them at home. Even much of the Spanish football news in Asia comes via London and not Madrid. Countries with few historic links to England such as South Korea and Japan have grown to know the Premier League well by sending some of their best players there.
