Nation tops world in soccer investments

Chinese investors have spent 2.15 billion euros ($2.4 billion) on soccer clubs, making them the world's biggest buyer of teams.

Acquisitions of major stakes in clubs between 2014 and 2016, including Inter Milan in Italy, Reading in the United Kingdom, Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic, and Lyon in France, meant Chinese investors spent seven times more than entities from the United States, the next largest spender.

Research by London-based merger and acquisition specialist Thinking-Linking looked at investments by groups from 41 countries. The total spent by Chinese investors was larger than the combined sums of the next 40 countries.