Friday, November 25, 2011

Chinese Prospects Will Join Liverpool In January

Liverpool will welcome two young Asian players to Merseyside as part of the Chinese Football Association's 'Future Star' program in January.

Long Cheng [16], and Chen Xiaomao [14], will link up with the Reds Youth Academy following a successful week-long trial at Melwood last month.

Frank McParland, director of the Liverpool academy revealed how the club had been extremely impressed with the youngsters during their first visit, praising their commitment and professionalism.

"Chinese players are fantastic, focused and they are unbelievably professional," he confirmed. "I know they are trying anything they can to learn the game.

"When the boys trained in Liverpool, they played soccer, and if they were not playing soccer, they watched other players playing and then they were on the internet looking at soccer.

"They are very good technically, and we want kids who understand football, so we like their intelligence.

"However, the physical style in England is stronger than the rest of Europe and we need to teach the kids to get stronger bodies so they can cope better in English games."

Well aware of the huge market in China, Liverpool started to look for a connection with the country earlier this year, and launched its first China tour this summer, where Kenny Dalglish’s side played a friendly with second-tier team Guangzhou Sunraycave.
The Reds' decision to include two Chinese players in their youth program is regarded as a move to further develop the Asian market, and McParland is happy to be involved.

"As a club, when you have cooperation with China, which has more than 1.3 billion people you must imagine there are good players in China," he added. "We honestly think these players [Long and Chen] have potential.

"We want them to integrate as much as possible and feel a little bit like they are at home in Liverpool."

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