MANCHESTER City and Juventus will play exhibition matches in Hong Kong next month against a South China invitational XI, a report said Thursday.

The English Premier League side, owned by former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will appear at Hong Kong Stadium on May 22, followed by a match between South China and the Italians, the South China Morning Post said.

"They are both quality sides and they have promised to bring their best players to Hong Kong as their domestic seasons will have ended in early May," South China convener Steven Lo Kit-shing was quoted as saying.

The cost of staging the exhibition will be about 10 million Hong Kong dollars (US1.3 million), according to Lo.

(SD-Agencies)