Shandong Taishan is set to begin their winter training preparations, and as a result, the club's management and head coach Choi Kang-hee have started scouting for suitable new foreign players during the winter transfer window. This is because several of the team's key foreign players are due to have their contracts expire and leave the team. According to Transfermarkt, Shandong Taishan's contracts with Pato, Jadson, and Marcelo have all expired. After these three foreign players' contracts expired, the club did not plan to renew their cooperation with them.
Therefore, Luneng must strengthen its foreign aid, at least in three positions need to introduce new faces. These three positions are the forward, central midfielder, and center-back, which makes many fans very excited. Shandong Taishan can consider introducing a stable goal-scoring striker in the forward position to replace the underperforming Pato. Since joining Taishan in the 2023 season, Pato has not been able to perform at his expected level in the games.
Pato became a flop for Taishan, causing the team to fail to achieve ideal results in both the Chinese Super League and the AFC Champions League. After sending off Pato, the team can introduce Palacios from Chengdu Rongcheng. The characteristics of this striker can complement the center forward Zeeka, because he is particularly fast and has a certain explosive power. The biggest advantage of Palacios is that he is a free agent and is also familiar with the Chinese Super League.
Simply put, after Shandong Taishan introduces Palacios, it can have an immediate effect without worrying about him being like Pato and feeling uncomfortable with the local conditions. Originally, Taishan wanted to keep Jadson in the center-back position, but Jadson had too many injuries and became a glass man for the team. Therefore, Shandong fans suggest that Taishan can introduce South Korean central defender Park Ji-soo to join.
Last season, when Park Ji-soo came to play away games for Luneng, he also exchanged jerseys with his good brother Gao Zhunyi, and he made his first appearance holding the Luneng jersey. Like Palacios, Park Ji-soo can also have an immediate effect after joining Taishan. As for the strengthening of the central midfielder position of Taishan, the team needs to consider spending money to introduce Chitadini if they want to get it done in one step. Chitadini scored a crucial goal for Shanghai Port in last season's FA Cup final, which is worth considering by Luneng.