Another No. 10 jersey for Xi? Chinese leader to dine at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium with British PM Cameron next week

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Xi Jinping showed off some of his schoolboy skills at Croke Park stadium in Dublin, Ireland in 2012 as China's vice-president. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 6:15pm, 16 Oct 2015Updated: 4:45pm, 17 Oct 2015

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who hopes to bring the World Cup to China, has scheduled a dinner date with British Prime Minister David Cameron next Friday at Etihad Stadium, home of English Premier League runners-up Manchester City, British media report.

They are due to eat at the club at the end of the Chinese leader’s official October 20-23 UK swing, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Whether the 62-year-old Communist Party chief will receive a No. 10 football jersey from the cash-rich club remains to be seen. He reportedly already has a dozen or so bearing the classic number of iconic strikers past and present stashed away in his wardrobe.

They come from some of the biggest teams in the world, including the national team of Argentina and club Boca Juniors, but were mostly presented by political or business figures.

Coincidentally, the last state visit by China to the UK also happened 10 years ago, when former president Hu Jintao visited in 2005. It was unclear whether Xi will find time to visit Cameron next week at the prime minister's official residence - at No. 10 Downing Street in London.