China's Dong to make Manchester United debut in Beijing: Ferguson

Dong Fangzhuo, then of Antwerp, is pictured during the football first league match Germinal vs Antwerp February 22, 2004 in Antwerp. Fangzhuo will play his first game for Manchester United in Beijing next week, club boss Sir Alex Ferguson said after his team touched down in Hong Kong to begin their Asian tour.

Chinese signing Dong Fangzhuo will play his first game for Manchester United in Beijing next week, club boss Sir Alex Ferguson said after his team touched down in Hong Kong to begin their Asian tour.

"You mentioned young Dong, I think he will play in the game in Beijing," Ferguson said Friday of the 18-year-old who has still to taste his first action in the English Premiership.

The former English and European champions signed the promising striker in January, making an initial 500,000 pound (875,000 dollar) down-payment in a deal which could rise to 3.5 million pounds depending on the number of first-team appearances he makes.

Ferguson said Dong would not play in the opening match of the side's four-match pre-season tour against the Hong Kong national team on Saturday, but would likely feature in the game against Beijing Hyundai in the Chinese capital next Tuesday.

The final matches of the tour are against Japanese J League sides Kashima Antlers and Urawa Red Diamonds on July 28 and 30.

The United manager voiced expectation that Dong's talents would be nurtured well at Old Trafford.

"He's a player, like a lot of our young players, who has potential and we hope to develop that potential in the next two or three years," Ferguson said.

Dong was forced to begin his United career on loan to Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp as he did not qualify immediately for a British work permit.

"As you know we put him into Antwerp in Belgium last year to give him experience and also because of the time to organise a work permit for him to enter Britain," Ferguson said.

"But in that time he was with us in Belgium -- and he has spent some time with us at the training ground -- we hope to see that development and give him a good career in the game," he said.

"He's a very enthusiastic boy. He's very quick, strong, athletic and I think he's got the material to do well."

The signing of Dong could be extremely beneficial to United from a commercial perspective because of the huge interest in the club in China.

Asia, and in particular China, is seen as a key market for the world's richest sports club, which over the past three years has opened at least 10 of its "Mega Stores" across the continent.

Apart from the former Dalian Shide star, other Chinese players in the Premiership are Li Tie at Everton and Sun Jihai at Manchester City.

The potential value of the Chinese market to English football was underlined when Li and Sun faced each other in matches on January 1 and on December 8 last year, generating intense interest in their home country.