Soccer teenager signs with French club giant
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-17 16:41

Chinese teenager midfielder Gai Yang signed a contract with French soccer giant Olympique Marseille here on Saturday to join its reserving team of the French Ligue 1 side.

The contract has been a two-year training convention, and the 17-year-old Dalian midfielder, who had been trained with former Chinese champion Dalian Shide, would play in the French under-18 soccer league and with the second team of the Marseille club during the 2004/2005 season, said Gai's agent Ma Mingkun after the ceremony. No fees were mentioned.

Gai, son of Dalian Shide's second team coach Gai Zengchen, thus became the first ever Asian and Chinese young player to train in a European club, a member of the G14 association of Europe's biggestclubs.

"For me, it's a dream come true," said the 1.82-meter Chinese, who plays either right or central midfielder on the pitch. "Olympique Marseille is one of the best clubs in the French first division soccer league and they have experience as well as advanced method in training.

"It must be a huge help when I pace to get first-team football in such an established outfit as Olympique Marseille."

Arrived in Marseille in last January, Gai had a six-month trialin the club's training center and much impressed the coaching staff.

"With the six-month trial, we found Gai Yang a promising player with soccer talent and big potential," said club general manager Vivia Korzani, who presented here for feasibility of future plans of friendly matches and youngsters training with the Chinese clubs.

"French soccer is well known of and good at young players training," said Korzani. "China has a big population as 20 times as that of France, but the registered soccer players here are justone 20th as in France, we think we have the obligation to give help in this aspect which would surely benefit to us.

"China is important for Olympique Marseille, but we have to take time when broadening our presence in the world's largest country. And at the first step of our developing plan in China, Gai is a good choice for us."

"We hope a quick progress of Gai Yang and believe that he couldbe the first Chinese who enters world's top club from the French training camp," added Korzani.

Gai Yang will leave for Marseille next month.

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