Dong Fangzhuo first came to prominence in 2000 when he was named Player of the Tournament in an U-17 football competition. He signed for Dalian Saidelong FC and helped them to finish as runners-up in the Chinese B League in 2002. This earned him selection to the Chinese U-23 national team, and a move to Dalian Shide, the most successful club team in China.

Dong signed for Manchester United from Dalian Shide in January 2004, for an initial fee of £500,000 which may eventually rise to £3,500,000 depending upon appearances. He thus became the first Chinese player to sign for Manchester United. The transfer fee could potentially become a record for any Chinese football player.

After signing for Manchester United, he was unable to immediately play for the senior team because he was ineligible for a work permit. Due to these legal issues, Dong was immediately loaned out to get first-team experience at Royal Antwerp FC in Belgium where the employment laws were less strict.
In his first season he scored 1 goal in 9 appearances as he began to get used to his new environment. His second season (2004-05) began promisingly as he found the net in 6 of his first 7 appearances of the season (all as substitute). However, disrupted by injury and international duty with the Chinese youth team, his form fell away in the latter half of the season as he finished with 7 goals in 22 appearances in all competitions. At the beginning of the following season, he was called up to join Manchester United on their 2005 pre-season tour of Asia. He was given his unofficial debut for Manchester United in a friendly against a Hong Kong XI and capped it off with a goal in a 2-0 victory.

In the 2005-06 season for Royal Antwerp, Dong impressed as he finished as the top scorer for both his team and the Belgian league with 18 goals including two hat-tricks. In 2006, he again joined Manchester United on a pre-season tour which this time was in South Africa. He scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs. Sir Alex Ferguson remarked that Dong had the "speed and physicality" to play for United and hoped that he would be eligible for Manchester United in December 2006. It was reported that Dong could obtain Belgian citizenship. However this option would cause Dong to lose his Chinese citizenship and was never considered.

He began the 2006-07 season in fine form for Antwerp scoring 11 goals in 15 appearances. On 15 December 2006, almost three years after his original signing, Dong was finally given a UK work permit having made enough appearances for the China national football team in the preceding two years. With his eligibility confirmed, he was recalled from Antwerp, given a new contract until 2010 and added to Manchester United's first-team squad on 17 January 2007. He was given squad number 21.

Dong made his Old Trafford debut for Manchester United in a friendly charity match against Europe XI on 13 March 2007. He is a regular for Manchester United Reserves, and on 9 May 2007, Dong made his Premiership debut for United against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, partnering Ole Gunnar Solskjær up front.
On 12 December 2007 Dong made his first UEFA Champions League appearance as a substitute in United's last match of the qualifying stages against AS Roma, replacing fellow striker Wayne Rooney.

 

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