Sir Keir Starmer presented China’s president Xi Jinping with a Premier League match ball flown 5,000 miles from London.
According to widespread reports from UK journalists travelling with Starmer, the UK Prime Minister arrived in Beijing armed with one of the yellow Puma match balls used in Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Arsenal and Manchester United, a game he had attended at the Emirates Stadium.
Xi’s affection for Manchester United may have been reasonably well known, but more surprising was the revelation — widely reported in the UK — that he told Starmer he also has a fondness for Arsenal, Manchester City and Crystal Palace.
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