Clubs unlikely to bite the Chinese hand that feeds

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Fourth Round - Liverpool v Arsenal - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - October 30, 2019 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil REUTERS/Andrew Yates

LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal's decision to distance the club from midfielder Mesut Ozil's criticism of China's policy towards its Muslim Uighur minority won't surprise anyone familiar with the scramble by Europe's soccer powers for a slice of the expanding Chinese market.

China is now the English Premier League's most lucrative overseas market, with the country paying 564 million pounds for a three-year TV rights deal, while Italy, Spain and Germany have also pocketed big deals.