In the world of football, contract issues between coaches and teams often resemble a war without gunpowder, filled with strategies and games of wits. Recently, the contract dispute between Shandong Luneng Football Club and their Korean head coach, Choi Kang-hee, has become the focus of this "war."
Choi Kang-hee, a coach with a prestigious reputation in Asian football, has won the recognition of fans since joining Shandong Luneng with his unique tactical concepts and rigorous training style. However, with the arrival of the offseason, both sides have become deadlocked over contract issues. Choi Kang-hee is eager to continue leading Luneng and hopes to gain more transfer rights to build a more competitive team for the next season. However, Shandong Luneng has explicitly rejected this request, stating that if Choi Kang-hee is willing to stay, he can continue coaching, but they will not grant him additional transfer rights.
This decision undoubtedly disappointed Choi Kang-hee. As a coach with rich coaching experience, he fully understands the importance of transfer rights to a team. Without transfer rights, his influence within the team would be greatly reduced, and his income might also be affected. Therefore, his agent expressed dissatisfaction and began actively seeking other possible coaching opportunities.
At the same time, rumors emerged that Choi Kang-hee was linked to the coaching position at South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Although he is just one of many candidates and would need to terminate his contract with Shandong Luneng before moving to South Korea, this news still attracted the attention of fans. Some fans even called on Luneng to reduce the termination fee so that Choi Kang-hee could smoothly return to coach in South Korea.
However, the issue of whether Choi Kang-hee stays or leaves remains unresolved, causing anxiety among Shandong Luneng fans. They worry that losing this excellent coach could have an adverse impact on the team's future. Reports from Tianjin media further intensified these concerns. The report pointed out that except for Cangzhou in the Chinese Super League, all other teams have announced their new head coaches for the new season, while Shandong Luneng has yet to make an official announcement. This has led to speculation outside that Choi Kang-hee may really leave Luneng.
Reports from well-known journalists revealed more details behind the scenes. It was revealed that although Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors included Choi Kang-hee on their candidate list, they did not seriously consider him as a possibility for the new head coach. Choi Kang-hee was more used as leverage in negotiations with other candidates. This means that the possibility of him returning to coach in South Korea is not high.
For Shandong Luneng, they face a tricky problem: since there are no performance clauses in the contract, they cannot directly terminate Choi Kang-hee's contract. If they were to forcibly terminate it, they would have to pay a breach of contract fee as high as 40 million yuan, which would undoubtedly be a huge expense for the club. Therefore, Luneng may choose to engage in a protracted battle with Choi Kang-hee, hoping that he will eventually agree to terminate the contract and leave on his own.
This game of contract negotiation not only tests the wisdom and patience of both sides but also touches the hearts of countless fans. No matter the outcome, we hope that both parties can find a satisfactory solution so that Choi Kang-hee can continue to contribute his strength to the football cause.