人们总是说金钱就是话语权，对于很多人来说，如果足够壕，你就可以解决任何问题。但当钱停止流动的时候，或许往往会产生意想不到的问题。
所以最近我非常关注关于中国足球大手笔签约的新闻报道，中国球队的转会费投入似乎显得越来越离谱，我想知道目前这种模式还能持续多久？虽然从现在来看一切都很美，但我担心中国足球产业会不会在达到顶峰之后就迅速走向破裂。
毫无疑问，高薪诱惑意味着这里将成为很多欧洲和南美球员在职业生涯末期的绝佳选择，或者那些在其他国家踢不上球的年轻球员也有前往中国的可能。不过我相信如果我们自己处在相同的情况下，我们也会做出同样的决定。但真正让我担心的是(可能我的看法或许有些主观)，中国球队为中国本土球员付出的转会费过高，这与他们的能力着实不符。
或许最大的隐忧是，至少在最近一段时间，中国球员的转会费会居高不下，这意味着越来越多的球队不得不选择从国外引进一些球员。相比国内的高价引援，这些外援的能力也许更强，而价格却可能相对较低。
你或许会问，作为一个外国人，我为什么如此关心中国足球？原因很简单，我希望看到中国足球的标准得到提高，这样中国联赛的水平才会有大的进步，整个足球氛围和体验才会变得越来越有欣赏性。如果未来中国真的能够适应现代足球的主流，将足球变成民族文化的一部分，那将是很棒的事情。从长远角度看，这或许将会提高从草根级别到更高级别的球赛的整体质量。
但也有人认为，随着球员的价值被更多地认可，球队的薪水不断提高，这能吸引越来越多的年轻人投入到足球这项运动中来，这将有助于提高中国足球的质量和标准。但我依然认为，如果真的希望提高国内联赛的水平，并且让中国国字号队伍在国际赛场有更好的表现，中国球员必须尽可能走出国门并长期在国外的联赛踢球。这样他们才能吸收国外先进的足球文化、技术以及团队协作精神，并在日后将这些宝贵的财富带回中国。
一个国家的足球水平不是一到两年的调整就可以提高的，这需要几代人的共同努力，需要在态度上有所转变，草根足球更好地发展以及一个长期、稳定的管理政策的落实。这需要同一批人用很长一段时间来执行，这些人需要保持一个长远的眼光，而不仅仅局限于眼前利益。当然，这需要那些有技术和经验的人的协助落实制定的政策，但在中国，这样的人在哪里？
这些问题曾经困扰中国足球，未来它也将长期“陪伴着”中国足球。如果他们未能意识到这些，只关注于球场上发生的一切，那么中国足球在未来一段时间也很难取得真正的进步。此前，幕后工作的重要性已经被一次次地忽视，因为这看起来不够“性感”，不够“吸引眼球”，但如果没有这些发生在幕后的工作，就不会有球场上出色的表现。虽然出色的球员就应该得到更高的薪水，但很显然中国足球将钱投在了错误的方向上，如果他们希望足球这项美丽的运动能够在中国取得真正的发展，那么他们必须将钱用到真正该用的地方。
They say that money talks, it solves everything for many people which is great while there is plenty of it, but becomes a problem if and when the money stops flowing.
So I watch the recent media reports related to Chinese football signings and transfers where the money being spent appears to be increasing disproportionately to the reality of the real world and wonder how long this current model will be sustainable? It sounds great at the moment, but my fear is that the football business in China will reach a peak and then implode on itself!
There is definitely no doubt that the money will attract foreign players to China that are at the end of their careers in Europe or South America, or those younger players who would typically not get into the top teams in either continent and I am sure that any of us in a similar position would do the same.
However what does worry me is the fees currently being paid by Chinese teams to attract Chinese players which are both very large and disproportionate to their abilities, although this is of course a relative and subjective assessment.
The big concern is that in the relatively near future transfer fees for Chinese players will have been driven so high that it would make the chances of any of them being taken up by clubs elsewhere in the world, very unlikely just because their choice of players with similar abilities is far greater and the cost lower.
You may ask why I as a non-Chinese should care, and the answer is that I would like to see the standard of football in China develop so that the domestic game improves significantly and the whole football experience becomes more entertaining, if China was to really adopt football and makes it part of the national culture it would be amazing. In the long term this would improve the quality of play from the grassroots level upwards.
It would also an argument that if the value of footballers and their salaries were to increase in China, more young people would be attracted to play and perhaps this would also drive up the standard and quality of the national game. But I still believe that for the domestic game to improve, and for the national squad to perform better, its football players must play in leagues outside of China for long enough periods to absorb football culture, skills and teamwork that they can then bring back with them.
Football quality isn’t something that can be improved or fixed in a year or two, it will take a generation, a change in attitudes, greater grassroots development and a long term, consistent and well managed strategy and this needs the same group of people involved and directing it for a long period and a focus on the long and not the short term. Of course those people also need the skills and experience to develop and then implement the strategy, and where are those people in China?
This debate about China and football will be had for years to come, and possibly during that time little or no real progress will be made to improve all the facets of football because what everyone is obsessed with is only what they see on the pitch.
The appreciation of all the work carried out in the background before and after is ignored because its not ‘sexy’ or ‘face enhancing’, but without this work there is no quality performance on the pitch. The money is being thrown in the wrong direction, and although good players should be paid appropriately, there are far better uses of the cash if the beautiful game is to really be improved in China.
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