Searching for the Chinese Cruyff

Language lessons

Training is no-nonsense and sessions are captured on video for subsequent scrutiny.

One coach occasionally stops a match between 10-year-olds to bark instructions in English, which are then translated.

Patience is needed, Engelkes admits, especially because of language differences.

With the midday sun burning down - it is fiercely hot even in autumn - the boys then troop inside for a quick shower and their lesson in soccer English.

R&F says that it is the only Chinese club with such a class, although it is questionable how much of the video the well-drilled boys understand.

After a healthy canteen lunch of seafood, rice, salad and fruit, the trainees retreat to their dormitories for a nap. Mobile phones are only allowed on Saturday.

Sam, an 11-year-old striker from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the far northwest, returns home just once a term.

His favorite player is Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He's very good at controlling the ball and scoring," Sam said.

Other European clubs have struck similar partnerships or have set up schools independently in China, though few can rival Ajax's reputation for youth development.

Engelkes wants to replicate in Meizhou the structure at Ajax HQ that has been so successful down the decades.

That goes as far as the interior of the academy offices - minus carpets, which are not practical in humid southern China.

"It's very important that an Ajax player - and an R&F player - has a certain attitude," said Engelkes, who previously coached Ajax women's team.

"They must be creative. We want to think very attacking, attractive (soccer), taking initiative, but also be dominant in the game they play."

It's a bold blueprint in a country that has never produced a world-class player and does not share the deep-rooted Dutch soccer culture.