“We’re signing a Chinese boy, hopefully in the next few weeks, and the minute we do, Jesus Christ . . . We have to be careful with that. Can we cope with another couple of million wanting to support us?” - Sir Alex Ferguson, November 2003

Manchester United can cope all right. As they touch down in Guangzhou this evening for the final leg of their tour to Asia, there will be the usual chaotic scenes at the airport, the locals rubbing their eyes in disbelief as Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney appear; there will be community visits; more media activity than the club would dream of undertaking back home. And for once, a timid youngster named Dong Fangzhou will be thrust into the limelight.

Dong was the boy in question in 2003 as David Gill, the chief executive, talked of an initial £500,000 deal, potentially rising to £3 million, that would “open innumerable possibilities in the Chinese market”. United, who boast 40 million supporters in Asia, feel that it has more than paid for itself, even if others will argue that his impact on their commercial strength in the region has been minimal. But has it been worthwhile for Dong?

An uncapped and unproven teenager, he was, like some cheap manufactured goods, being shipped to Europe for an indefinite period in storage within weeks of signing for United. Specifically he was sent to Royal Antwerp, United’s feeder club, while he waited three years to qualify for a work permit. He did not speak English, let alone Flemish or French, and complained of homesickness. “All I had was my own company and a hotel room,” he said. “I didn’t even have a car.”

In those early days in Antwerp, Dong’s prospects on the pitch were equally bleak, but slowly he improved. Finally, after becoming a regular goal-scorer in the Belgian second division, as well as in pre-season matches for United in Hong Kong and South Africa, he arrived at Old Trafford in January, having been granted a work permit and, more surprisingly, a new three-year contract.

The problem for Dong, who at 22 is older than Ronaldo and Rooney, is that he is regarded by the outside world as a commercial pawn first and a footballer a distant second. Despite a lack of fit strikers at Old Trafford last spring, he did not get beyond the substitutes’ bench until after the league title was won. When he finally played in what had become an academic fixture away to Chelsea, he made no headway against John Terry and, while he is not unique in that regard, this particular contest was embarrassingly one-sided.

Dong, though, still believes he can make the grade with United. “I am trying to prove I am good enough to play for this team,” he said this week. “I need to train hard and work hard, but that is no problem for me. For any Chinese player, it is tough when you move to a new country because of the language and the fact it is a different culture. But while those three years at Antwerp were hard, in a way they may help me because I am used to playing in Europe now.”

To judge from his 30-minute appearance against Shenzhen FC in Macau on Monday, Dong remains a work in progress, but Ferguson expects him to make headway this season. “We expect bigger things from Dong,” the United manager said. “He has tremendous pace and power. He’s a very athletic boy. I think this season we will see a better player.”

Whether Dong will ever be good enough for United - let alone to rival Ronaldo or Rooney in the affections of his fellow Chinese - remains to be seen, but he hopes to have the opportunity to prove himself in their final tour match, against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on Friday. “It would be fantastic to play for Manchester United in my own country,” he said.

But the real dream is to play regularly for United in the Barclays Premier League. And if he does, then finally, perhaps, Ferguson’s musings about a real explosion of interest in China will be proved right.