Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG FC has recently partnered with two European football clubs with the aim of developing their young players and coaches using Western techniques and systems.

The two European clubs are said to be German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV and Belgian Second Division team Royal Antwerp FC.

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ESPN reported that the Red Eagles, currently coached by 68-year-old Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, have signed an agreement with Royal Antwerp last week to help the China top flight squad develop the players and coaches of their youth academy, which includes sending them to Belgium if necessary.

The report noted that the deal "works both ways" because while SIPG gains "access to top-level youth development systems", the Great Old is set to benefit from a "high-profile partner in what could become the most lucrative football market in the world", which is mainland China.

Mads Davidsen, one of Eriksson's assistants at SIPG, said that the program will be beneficial not only for the club and its young footballers but also for the country as well because it could be the beginning of a great "path to producing better players" in the future.

"You have to be 18 under FIFA rules to change continents but there are players here in Shanghai's U18 and U19 teams who are good but not quite ready for the first-team yet," said Davidsen. "This is a good idea and one way of developing players in a different environment. They could stay home and wait for the chance but you never know what will happen."

"If they go abroad, it is not just about the training and the football, it can develop their personality. They have to take care of themselves when they are far from home and what they know. We can see how they get on both on and off the pitch," he added.

Meanwhile, SIPG had reached a similar agreement with German side Hamburg last week, but the development was not well-received by Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, saying that Dortmund will never be "tempted by Chinese investment in the future".

"You can get a Chinese investor, as Atletico Madrid has done. But we will never go down this route," Watzke said, via Yahoo Sports. "We'll do it the hard way. In order to grow ourselves over the next 10 years, we'll do things like we have done in the last 10 years."

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Shanghai SIPG FC, Hamburger SV, Royal Antwerp FC