In the past few years, the popularity of football in China has increased, and in Britain, football clubs have also taken an interest in Chinese footballers.
In 2002, Sun Jihai signed to Premiership team Manchester City and has since become one of their key defenders. Jihai entered the history books by being the first Chinese player to score in the Premiership.
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has praised Jihai’s versatility and said that the player was missed when he was off the pitch due to injury earlier this year.
Another China international, Li Tie has been a regular midfielder at Everton football club for several years. However, he suffered a setback at the end of 2004 because of a broken leg which kept him out of action for several months.
The latest Chinese player to join a Premiership team was the 18 year old prodigy Dong Fangzhou, who was bought by Manchester United in 2004. Because of problems with red tape he does not yet have a work permit to play in Britain, so he is currently at a Belgian feeder club.
However, the striker was able to play for Manchester United in their Far East tour. He impressed manager Alex Ferguson in his first club appearance, scoring a goal to help the team beat Hong Kong 0-2. Ferguson said that Dong has great potential, and compared his goal to British football legend Gary Lineker.
The Scottish premiership has also become interested in Chinese players, with Rangers football club signing a partnership deal with Shenzhen Jianlibao to co-operate in coaching and player development.
Rival club Celtic signed another promising Chinese player, Du Wei, although so far he has stayed on the substitutes’ bench. However, manager Gordon Strachan has described him as a joy in training sessions and said that he is likely to play for the club soon.
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