Sky Sports' Johnny Phillips: Wolves were winners on and off the pitch in China

There were many ways this was achieved. On the pitch, the team lifted the token silverware on offer after a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester City in last Saturday’s final. There was valuable game time for academy graduates and youngsters from Scott Sellars’ under-23s set-up. The players made many friends with countless public appearances, signing sessions and a willingness to engage with the events planned during the week.

Alongside those appearances, a slick and professional marketing operation took place, as the club worked with sponsors, partners and the Chinese public to present an image of Wolves that will help growth in a region of the world where they are looking to gain a foothold.

It was not just about ‘brand’ awareness, though.

The Wolves Foundation worked alongside the Fosun Foundation, staging football coaching workshops at local schools. Every day there was a programme of events organised and attended by a range of club staff.

Despite coming from different cultural backgrounds, the two foundations found plenty of common ground.

Of course, on one level, all this was to be expected. This was a homecoming tour for the owners and they were never going to pass up on such a convenient opportunity to spread the word.

With the infrastructure in place on the ground, Fosun could give Wolves a head start off the pitch over the three other teams competing in the tournament.

Wolves have, for some time, been considered more than an ordinary investment, with chairman Jeff Shi signalling that it has now become a long-term concern for the company.

It was interesting to observe how the Chinese media reacted to the visit of Wolves compared to the champions Manchester City. There was more than one local report that painted an unattractive picture of City’s behaviour.

“An attitude of arrogance and the belief that they were the main attraction to the Premier League Asia Trophy was misplaced and stood in direct contrast to the other clubs,” read an editorial in the Xinhua news agency. “Wolves could not do more to engage with fans and even Newcastle, despite arriving under a cloud of off-field negativity, treated China with the utmost respect and dignity. Today those clubs leave China with a new-found respect and new fans; Manchester City leave China with neither.”

Wolves left nothing to chance, making many friendships along the way. But perhaps the biggest impact came from within.

Fosun’s greatest asset at Wolves – and key to its success – is the management and playing staff.

Nuno Espirito Santo has talked at length on many occasions about ‘The Project’ that attracted him and his coaching staff to Molineux. He has always understood the ownership and appears to be in it for the long haul.

Players are a different breed, though. They rarely look too far ahead or outside their own roles. Not all footballers are wrapped up in their own bubble.

At Wolves there are some erudite characters, wise heads on solid shoulders. John Ruddy and Conor Coady have always grasped the Fosun project and, in their own different ways, have been integral to its success so far.

Ryan Bennett, the last player to arrive at the club before Nuno Espirito Santo came in, is another with a sense of the wider picture. He summed it up perfectly when speaking at training the day before the Asia Trophy final, for a documentary we are making at Sky Sports to be shown on Monday, August 19.

“We had a nice dinner with the owners and it’s amazing to see how big and how well respected they are out here,” the defender said.

“We even trained at their offices, using the gym and the swimming pool there. The facilities they’ve got and how big they are as a brand is amazing really. To listen to the owner speak at the dinner and hear what he said about us was amazing.

“We’re a big part of their group. And we are looking to put in the hard work to be successful for them.”

There are others in the team with a less perceptive eye, who will not have given a second thought to the ownership. That is no criticism. The majority of footballers just want to play football. Yet, that all changed after a week in Shanghai. By opening the players’ minds to the scale of Fosun’s reach in China, the owners’ have achieved something significant. There was not one member of the squad who left the Far East without a greater understanding of the club.

“We were missing a face, and it’s good that the players recognise we are inside something that is huge, massive, worldwide,” said Nuno.

“That part of the trip has been very good, to know another culture and realise football is global and not just what surrounds you. We are very happy the players came here.”

“It’s been a very good week for us with a lot of events,” Ruben Neves added. “I know that it’s a big club with a lot of ambitions.

“It’s our job to do our best to make the club grow and help it improve every year. It’s a very ambitious project for us.”

Several players commented on the quality of the Fosun organisation on the ground, and there was always a visible presence of Fosun staff on hand to help. No stone was left unturned.

The dinner hosted by chairman Guo Guangchang at the famous Yu Garden was an intimate club affair. The owner’s words were brief but the players listened intently. They left Shanghai with a greater sense of where Wolves stood within the ownership, and with a broader understanding of the path they are on.