Man Utd sign Shide striker Dong Fangzhuo
( 2004-01-13 09:10) (Agencies)
Manchester United have completed the signing of Chinese prodigy Dong
Fangzhou.
In a complicated transfer, United will pay an initial ¡ê500,000 for the
18-year-old striker ¨C which could eventually rise to ¡ê3.5 million depending on
appearances.
But because Dong does not qualify for a UK work permit, he will have to begin
his United career at Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp at the start of next
season.
Should he prove good enough to play in the Premiership he would then be
forced to either apply for a Belgian passport ¨C which would allow him to play in
England ¨C or have played in 75% of China¡¯s international matches over the next
two years in order to qualify for a work permit.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who last week tied up a pre-contract agreement for
Celtic midfielder Liam Miller in his drive to build a squad for the post-Ryan
Giggs era, will not be the only one hoping the deal will work.
Should the transfer eventually prove a success the Old Trafford money-men can
expect to benefit from an explosion of interest in United in the world¡¯s most
populous country.
Everton and Manchester City have already benefited commercially from the
signings of Li Tie and Sun Jihai respectively ¨C but that would be dwarfed by the
attention United could attract.
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