Some football fans have enough money to buy the team, not just a ticket. Most do so out of love of the game. Not Jack Ma. “I don’t really understand football,” the Alibaba founder said as he announced the company would be paying $192m for a 50 per cent stake in Guangzhou Evergrande, one of China’s top clubs. “I also didn’t understand ecommerce,” Mr Ma said, by way of reassurance. Hopefully, Mr Ma does understand that he will soon be running a public company.

Guangzhou Evergrande is just the latest – and most puzzling – item on a list of investments that have run up a bill of more than $5bn since Alibaba announced its listing plans. There is the $360m spent on a stake in Haier, a white goods maker. Plus $1.5bn to acquire AutoNavi, a map app. And another $1.2bn for a stake in Youku Tudou, China’s leading video streaming site. Not to mention an additional half-dozen deals. (This for a company that is set to have over $4bn in net income this fiscal year).

While Alibaba’s core business –