January has just passed, and there are new developments in the transfer market for Chinese Super League teams. The veteran powerhouse Shandong Taishan recently signed Tang Chuang, a tall striker from the former Chengdu Rongcheng team, which is quite interesting! Now, this 29-year-old player has arrived in Shanghai and started winter training with the team.
Tang Chuang's addition has injected new vitality into Taishan's front line. Although he has played in the China League One for many years and his age is somewhat advanced, his performance last season with Chengdu Rongcheng was really not bad. In the Chinese Super League and FA Cup matches, Tang Chuang scored 4 goals for the team. Especially against Shanghai Port, he single-handedly created 3 goals, delivering 2 goals and 1 assist, which is why he caught the attention of Taishan.
However, some Shandong fans are still worried about Tang Chuang's joining. Introducing a player who is close to the age of 30 and has been playing in the China League One for a long time seems to be at odds with the direction of the team's development. Everyone hopes that young players trained by Luneng Football School can have a place in the team.
It can be seen that the transfer trend of Taishan Club in recent years has been confusing. For example, in the 2023 season, they introduced Liu Guobo, a former forward from Beijing Guoan, but so far, he has not appeared in the first team. Now, this 26-year-old big guy has only played 3 games for Tai'an Tiankuang.
Liu Guobo is a true Beijinger, but he trained at the football base in Chongming since childhood and later joined the youth team of Shanghai Port. In 2017, he also represented the Shanghai U18 youth team at the 13th National Games. As a substitute, he made significant contributions to the Shanghai National Games team, ultimately helping the team win the championship. This experience is undoubtedly one of the highlights of his career.
In the 2018 season, Guoan brought Liu Guobo from Shanghai Port, finally allowing the young player to return to his hometown team. However, after joining Guoan, he never got the chance to showcase his abilities. Due to slightly insufficient physical strength, he had difficulty adapting to the rhythm of the Chinese Super League.
Therefore, during the five seasons spent at Guoan, Liu Guobo only played 22 Chinese Super League games for the team, leaving a record of only 1 goal and 1 assist, which is indeed not glorious. By the summer of 2023, he transferred to Shandong Taishan, but he still did not get the opportunity in the first team, and soon was loaned to Zibo Qisheng in the China League Two.
Last season, Liu Guobo was once again loaned by Shandong Taishan to Tai'an Tiankuang in the China League Two, but he still could not find a stable starting position, playing only 3 rounds of China League Two games for the team throughout the season. However, even though he struggled to establish himself in the China League Two team, Liu Guobo surprisingly received a renewal notice from Taishan Club, which is quite unexpected.
According to the latest news, Liu Guobo has just renewed a new contract with Shandong Taishan Club for 2 years, which will expire at the end of 2026. This news has been confirmed by Transfermarkt, a well-known football website. More surprisingly, Liu Guobo did not join Shandong Taishan for winter training in Shanghai. Judging from the current situation, it is likely that he will be loaned out to other teams again in the new season, oh, this kid is really making trouble!
Some fans speculate that Taishan Club renewed Liu Guobo's contract in order to keep his younger brother Liu Guobao. Liu Guobao is also a forward and is much stronger than his older brother. Last season, he had already entered the Taishan first team, but due to injuries, he was unable to represent the team in the Chinese Super League. If Liu Guobo can continue to stay with Shandong Taishan and Liu Guobao can be favored by Choi Kang-hee after recovering from injury, then the fans of Taishan will have the opportunity to see these two Liu brothers compete on the same field in the new season, which will be really interesting!