Midfielder Chan is part of the under-17 group in Madrid, despite only turning 14 in September. He has played for Kitchee at under-16 level, and been a member of Hong Kong squads for the same age-group.

He had no second thoughts about going, because “as a kid, you want to play football and have fun. This was a chance to improve my football and develop new skills”.

Chan understands that only a few make it to the top, and said if he wasn’t among that number he wanted to “try to get into university in the US or UK, and continue playing football”.

“On the pitch, my thoughts are about being a pro footballer,” he added. “But, off the pitch, I want to be a good person, and make my parents proud. I want to be able to look after them when I am older.”

The 14-year-old Ho said he was doing “everything I can to be a pro footballer”.

“The intensity of training here is much greater than in Hong Kong,” he said. “I am learning and improving, but understand it is very difficult to make football your career.”

The Madrid campus gives its streamlined intake of roughly 80 players, aged between 14 and 17, from 40 countries, a taste of professional football living.

Every training session and match is recorded, while parents at home can watch games live, and GPS monitors track players’ speeds and distances covered.

Nutritionists plan diets, while monthly meetings with psychologists, said Chan, “teach us how to think, not what to think”.

Match day opponents include youth teams from La Liga clubs Rayo Vallecano, Athletic Bilbao and Getafe.

“The youth players from Spanish clubs are mature, and play quick and intense football,” Chan said. “We follow the La Liga methodology, and learn a lot tactically: how to play under pressure, and the mental and physical levels required.”

Tang, 15, who is on the books at Tai Po, adds: “I have learned so much about tactics and, if I have a problem with anything, the coaches help me solve it.

“We have a dream, and I did not have any doubts about coming here, this is a precious opportunity for us.”

The academy has more that 750 offshoots, across more than 55 countries, all teaching the same progressive, possession-based Spanish philosophy.

At the blue-riband capital headquarters, equal importance is attached to “sporting and academic excellence”.

The players study for an international baccalaureate diploma, while learning the native tongue.

The question remains, however, for three youngsters from a city where sport traditionally takes a back seat to education, of whether their parents backed them in chasing their dreams.

“My parents want me to be happy,” Tang said. “In Hong Kong, I felt a lot of stress around my education. Here, there is not the same pressure, which allows me to train better.”

Chan added: “As long as I put everything into what I am doing, my parents will support me all the way.

“In Hong Kong, a lot of kids give up football, because there is no time with the stress around homework. Our school work here is project based, so there is no outside pressure affecting our football.”

All three hopefuls, whose academy stay lasts until the summer, are in daily contact with family in Hong Kong, and spent Christmas at home.

“Here, with our teammates, we are like a family, and feel really connected to each other,” Ho said. “We do not have a sense of being lost in Madrid.”