Little Messi” is like millions of young boys around the world. Kaisar Tursun is 12 and a member of the Uighur minority from Xinjiang province in northwest China. He loves to play football and dreams of playing in the World Cup. “I want to win glory for China, for my motherland and for the Uighurs,” he says with steely determination.

Kaisar has reason to be confident. As one of 2,300 students at an ambitious and massive football school in the southern province of Guangdong, he is closer than most boys his age to having a shot.

Evergrande International Football School lives up to its name. With clock towers, medieval turrets and spires, it looks like JK Rowling and Walt Disney have built a magical castle in rural Guangdong. At night, the turrets are illuminated in vivid blue or red – the school colours – adding to the surreal spectacle.