Arsenal will play London rival Chelsea "in a pre-season friendly in China," according to Samuel Lovett of the London INDEPENDENT. As part of their preseason tours, the clubs "will go head-to-head at the Bird's Nest Stadium" in Beijing. The rivals' first meeting outside of the U.K. will take place on July 22. It will be Arsenal's second trip to Beijing and its "third visit to China in recent years" (INDEPENDENT, 2/27).
DFB EYEING CHINA: ESPN.com's Stephan Uersfeld reported German FA (DFB) General Secretary Friedrich Curtius said that he wants to send Germany to play a friendly in China by '19 "at the latest." Last year, China and Germany signed a "comprehensive agreement at government level" to boost the development of football. Curtius said, "Our goal is to make it [a friendly in China] possible by 2019, latest. You'd take the partnership to a completely new level with such a game. I've already talked to [DFB President] Reinhard Grindel, [head coach] Joachim Löw and [GM] Oliver Bierhoff. They all like the idea, but finding a date is difficult" (ESPN.com, 2/27).
LONDON TO HOST NIGERIA: The BBC's Oluwashina Okeleji reported Nigeria has "lined up" int'l friendlies against Senegal and Burkina Faso in London in March. The Super Eagles will face the Teranga Lions on March 23 and the Stallions four days later "as part of their build-up for the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa in June." Both friendlies will take place at the Hive Stadium in Canons Park -- home of English fourth-tier side Barnet (BBC, 2/27).