Chelsea tour blog: Michel Salgado and Josh McEachran prove why the Prem is top of the pops in Asia
Chelsea are bringing a taste of the Premier League to Asia - and our very own John Cross is on the road with them, bringing you all the behind-the-scenes gossip and news...
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Few foreign players speak as well and as eloquently as Michel Salgado.
Blackburn's Spanish defender also has a perfect perspective as to why English football seems to be so much more popular in Asia than his homeland's La Liga is.
Salgado is a genuine Real Madrid legend and has been on many overseas tours with the Spanish giants but, although they are popular, Spanish football as a whole doesn't come close to the Premier League for fans in the Far East.
Veteran full-back Salgado said: "This is my second time in Hong Kong - the first was in 2003 with Real Madrid; it was at the end of an Asian tour where we visited Japan, China and Thailand. It was very different to what this is, where we are here for one week.
"The Premier League is one of the most exciting leagues in the world. Hong Kong is a great city. They have been welcoming to us you can feel that people love football.
"I think the Premier League is more popular here than the Spanish League, which has a problem in that they will have to change the kick-off times.
"In Asia, they can watch the [3pm kickoff] Premier League games live, but they play much later in Spain and the kick-off times are very late at night here. That is one of the reasons why the Premier League is more popular than the Spanish League.
"But Real Madrid is different. If you brought Real Madrid to Asia then you would see they have some crazy fans."
Possibly not more crazy than the sell-out 40,000-plus crowd at the Hong Kong Stadium for tomorrow's Barclays Asia Trophy final between Chelsea and Aston Villa and the third place play-off between Blackburn and local side Kitchee.
But the clubs are also putting things back into the communities.
It's good to see Barclays' Spaces for Sport programme, which helps local kids in Hong Kong.
Chelsea supported that press conference by sending manager Andre Villas-Boas and young midfielder Josh McEachran.
McEachran is just 18 and still breaking through, but was really impressive in the main press conference ahead of the final, spelling out his admiration of Zinedine Zidane, and discussing where he likes to play and his friendship with Jack Wilshere.
It's hard for any teenager to face a room full of journalists.
Salgado is vastly experienced at this kind of thing, but McEachran handled it really well and it's interesting that one of his likely future England team-mates, Wilshere, has also improved a great deal in that regard.
Wilshere now speaks well in public, and this sort of experience can only give them confidence as developing adults and players.
It was also interesting to see Kitchee's manager, the Spaniard Josep Gombau, thank the local media so warmly for their support and the Hong Kong FA for voting him their Manager of the Year.
He was incredibly apologetic that he could not attend the awards ceremony because he had a previous engagement - the birth of his child.
Gombau also had an interesting view as to why so few Asian players have carved out successful careers in Europe.
He believes it's largely to do with the physical nature of English football and yet, with the Premier League being so popular, it's still hard to understand.
But the Asia Trophy and the promotion and community work done by the Premier League within the past week will surely guarantee that more players from this continent will break through onto the European scene.
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Audio: Man United, City, Arsenal and Chelsea on tour podcast
Chelsea tour blog: Charm offensive makes Premier League kings in Kong
Chelsea tour blog: Villa and Blackburn join the fray in Hong Kong for the Premier League Asia Trophy
Chelsea tour blog: Why Blues fans must stop kidding themselves about Torres
Chelsea tour blog: Tuk tuks, scissor kicks and Prem shirts everywhere - welcome to Bangkok!
Chelsea tour blog: Villas-Boas may be a Special boss but he's no Mourinho when it comes to the media
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Get regular updates from the Far East by following John Cross on Twitter
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