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saying, among them Confucius, but I had no wish to insult Mr Jia by suggesting that this was now the kind of quotation that could be found inside any Christmas cracker.
    ‘I was very much an admirer of London City,’ he continued.
    ‘Me, too. Still am.’
    ‘Of João Zarco and yourself. I tell you honestly that if Mr Zarco had still been alive it might have been him who was sitting here now.’
    ‘Zarco was the best manager in Europe,’ I said. ‘If not the world.’
    ‘This is my opinion also,’ said Jia. ‘But I also think that you are the next best thing. That if you had stayed at London City you would have achieved greatness. Of course it might turn out that their loss could be my gain.’
    Mr Jia allowed one of the hostess girls to refill his glass. While she did so his hand drifted up her skirt and stayed there for a moment but she did not flinch and the smile remained fixed on her face. Evidently she was used to this Game of Thrones style behaviour. And I got the feeling that she would not have blinked an eye if I had copied his behaviour and done the same. But my hands stayed wrapped around my beer glass.
    ‘I heard a strong rumour that your departure from City had something to do with a foreign betting syndicate,’ he said. ‘That you discovered that the death of Bekim Develi in Athens was connected with an in-play bet made in Russia. Oh, it’s all right, I’m not asking you to confirm this rumour. This is common knowledge here in China. I like to bet myself – all Chinese people like to gamble – but I make it a rule never to bet on my own team. The bets you’ve seen me making are all on other matches taking place this afternoon. Principally the match between our principal rival, Shanghai Shenhua and Beijing Guoan. I tell you this so that you will know that I am not a crook. I am, however, very rich and what else can you do with money but spend it? I have a million yuan riding on the result of that match; this is about a hundred thousand pounds. But there’s nothing to stop you betting on Nine Dragons, Mr Manson. Or for that matter on these dogs from Guangzhou Evergrande. Although I wouldn’t recommend it. They are without their best player – Arturo. The Brazilian? Shanghai Xuhui Nine Dragons will almost certainly beat the Greens this afternoon.’
    ‘Why nine dragons?’ I asked, changing the subject. ‘Why not seven or eight? Or even ten?’
    ‘Nine has the same pronunciation as a word which means everlasting and so this is a very lucky number in Chinese,’ he explained. He kept on watching the match while he spoke, the match reflecting like tiny televisions in his glasses. ‘Many Chinese emperors liked the number a lot. They wore nine dragon imperial robes, and built nine dragon palace walls. In the Forbidden City you will find the number nine affects almost everything. The number nine and its multiples are also liked by ordinary Chinese people. On Valentine’s Day a Chinese man will present his lover with ninety-nine red roses to symbolise eternal love. Really there’s no end to the fascination we Chinese have with the number nine. I even have a number nine tattooed on my back. Just so that my wife really knows it’s me. When I bought this team I wanted to emphasise great power and hope for the future. Which is where the number nine and you come in, Mr Manson. I have great plans for the future of this football club and the Chinese Super League.
    ‘But these are as nothing beside the plans I have for English football. It is my intention to buy a famous club sometime in the next twelve months. I regret I cannot say more at this stage. But this club was once at the top of the old English First Division and it is my wish to make it so again. To that end I will need the help of a man such as yourself. We can do great things, you and I. I hope we can make a deal while you are in Shanghai. When you do there will be a signing fee of one million pounds. We will have two contracts – one