The President of the People’s Republic of China, President Xi Jinping today visited the City Football Academy, home to Manchester City Football Club and headquarters of its global football organisation.
The President, who was accompanied by Prime Minister David Cameron, visited the 80-acre youth development and first team training site in central Manchester, as part of a four day trip to the UK and was hosted by City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak throughout.
.@aguerosergiokun: "Thank you for the selfie, President Xi" 感谢能与您自拍，习主席！#CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4du2zIaacY
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 23, 2015
During the course of the visit to the recently opened facility, the building of which saw 80-per-cent of its project spend in Manchester and the North West of England, the world leaders took the opportunity to meet City heroes Toni Duggan and Sergio Aguero and to watch a training session led by manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Former City stars Patrick Vieira and Mike Summerbee and managing director of City Football Services Brian Marwood were also in attendance and led the two Premiers, along with under-21 captain George Glendon to observe training drills sessions with boys and girls of the under-15 squads. They also interacted with recruitment and training technology used by Manchester City and its sister clubs around the world.
The President and Prime Minister were also greeted by Manchester United former players and ambassadors,Denis Law and Gary Neville and enjoyed an exhibition from the Manchester based National Football Museum in which major historical artefacts, including the first World Cup ball, were on display.
A further highlight of the visit was the induction into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame of former City player and Chinese international, Sun Jihai, who played 130 times for Manchester City between 2002-08. Jihai who was the first Chinese player to score in the Premier League, was last month named as City’s ambassador to China
Speaking of the visit by the President and Prime Minister, Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “It is an immense honour for the City Football Academy here in Manchester to be included in the itinerary of President Xi’s state visit. We were delighted to be able to host both President Xi and Prime Minister David Cameron.
“It was a wonderful moment for all concerned to see Sun Jihai’s contribution to both Manchester and English football recognised by the National Football Museum. Today is testament to the Club’s strong existing links with china and to our ambitions for them to deepen and grow.