Guangzhou Evergrande opening Madrid soccer academy

Big-spending Chinese soccer club Guangzhou Evergrande will open a soccer school branch in Madrid this fall in a move to boost development of the sport on the mainland, the club has announced.

"Establishment of the Spanish school is part of our efforts to increase the club's strength in the long term and eventually help boost Chinese soccer," said Liu Jiangnan, president of Evergrande Football School.

The school is scheduled to open in September. Liu said the club will send 25 young players to the school each year to receive professional training from a squad of European coaches, as well as an academic education, for three years.

The club will cover all costs for the students, who will also be sent to Europe to train and play for professional clubs.

"We hope they will play more in the 'Spanish style', which is well accepted today. Moreover, we hope some of them play for professional European clubs and for the Chinese national team," Liu said.

Students will be selected by Spanish coaches from the existing soccer school, which opened in 2012 under cooperation with the La Liga giant Real Madrid.

The school, in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, has more than 2,000 students.

The announcement came just days after the club announced the introduction of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding as a strategic partner.

With hefty financial backing from Guangzhou-based property giant Evergrande Group, the club won the domestic title in 2011. It is also seeking to defend its AFC Champions League title after it broke China's 23-year Asian title drought by clinching the Asian club championship in 2013.

Luis Alsina, president of Soxna, which is authorized by the Real Madrid Foundation to conduct business in China, said the soccer school branch will enable Chinese players to improve quickly. "We are providing more scientifically-approached training for young Chinese players, who will also receive language and other academic studies in Spain," he said.

Since the 1990s, domestic clubs have sent several groups of young players to developed countries for soccer training, but with disappointing results.

"Such training was all short-term, and players did not receive an academic education, which proved very important for understanding soccer," said Xie Liang, a soccer commentator.