Launched in 2012, the "China’s Future Football Stars" program, which Wanda has invested significantly in to develop and involves sending 30 young footballers to study abroad in Spain each year - is currently entering its fourth year. Right now there are 120 young footballers from China training and competing together with youths of similar age groups in three Spanish football clubs including Atlético Madrid.
The selection for the fifth group of 30 players has begun. In January this year, six foreign youth academy training specialists from Atlético Madrid arrived at Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to observe first-hand the U13 All-China Youth Football Championship. A comprehensive appraisal saw the preliminary selection of the first group of finalists who will qualify for a second round of selection. For the purpose of widening the scope of selection, a public recruitment for registration will also be launched on February 15. Footballers eligible for selection will be those born after January 1, 2003 and before December 31, 2005.
The second round of selection is planned to be held in Beijing at the end of April to the beginning of May. Finalists who have been selected by the youth academy training specialists from Atlético Madrid and those selected via the public registration will take part in a second round of competition. The Spanish youth academy coach will carry out a comprehensive and in-depth review, finally deciding on a general list of 50 finalists. In July this year, a list of 30 finalists will be decided ultimately. The finalists will be uniformly and centrally trained, and will undergo Spanish language classes, counseling, and a series of pre-overseas study preparation. Qualified trained footballers will leave for Atlético Madrid at the beginning of September to begin three years of overseas training free of charge.
The young footballers are already rising to prominence in the football fields across the nation - in 2015, 16 footballers were selected for China's U16 national youth team. Many more are also representing Shenzhen, Wuhan, Guangzhou and other cities to compete in the National Youth Games, attracting much attention as the best among footballers of similar age groups.
