Official Announcement! The first player to leave Shandong Luneng in the winter window has been revealed, as Choi Kang-hee releases his 29-year-old protégé who scored only 4 goals in two years.‌ The Chinese Super League (CSL) veteran powerhouse Shandong Taishan team has started their winter training, heading to Shanghai for a training camp to prepare for the new season's matches. In last season's CSL, the Taishan team performed unsatisfactorily, finishing 30 points behind the Port and ranking fifth in the league, missing out on the FA Cup championship. The team needs to make good use of the winter training and transfer window to enhance their strength. Choi Kang-hee's team is preparing for the new season, and now it has been confirmed that a player will be leaving. Official announcement! The first person to leave Luneng in the winter window has been revealed, as Choi Kang-hee releases his 29-year-old protégé: only 4 goals in two years. On January 9th, Beijing time, the Indonesian Super League team Borneo officially announced that Brazilian foreign aid Matheus Pato will return on a free transfer and will play for the team for the remainder of the season. After Pato's contract expired, he officially left the Taishan team, which is good news for the Taishan team. Because after Choi Kang-hee introduced Pato, the player did not perform outstandingly in the Taishan team, but rather disappointed. When playing for Borneo in Indonesia, Pato had a single-season record of 32 games with 25 goals and 3 assists, winning the Indonesian Super League Golden Boot. In the summer of…

On January 9th, Beijing time, let's pay attention to the new trends in the domestic football world and discuss the changes in the sports circle. In this cold winter, Shandong Taishan team has taken the lead. They completed their assembly in Jinan on January 6th and flew to Shanghai on the 8th to officially start the first stage of training for a month. This training session is not only a key step for the team to accumulate strength for the new season, but also a comprehensive test and improvement of tactical arrangements and player status. Speaking of why Shanghai was chosen as the training location, there are actually many deep meanings behind it. First of all, Shanghai's geographical location is superior, which makes it convenient for national team players to gather smoothly. It also provides convenience for travel to the upcoming two AFC Champions League matches, saving the fatigue and trouble of long-distance travel. Secondly, head coach Cui Kangxi has been living in Shanghai for a long time. This arrangement undoubtedly brings him a lot of convenience in his daily work and life, allowing him to devote himself wholeheartedly to the management of the team while taking care of his family, reflecting the club's humanistic care for the coaching staff. Moreover, last year, foreign aid Zeke, who was introduced at a high price by the Taishan team, suffered a serious injury during training in Haikou. This incident gave the team a profound lesson. Choosing Shanghai as the training location is partly due to considerations of player safety and health, aiming…

When we see Tianjin TEDA splashing out 18 million euros a few years ago to bring in Brazilian player Alexandre Pato, we can't help but ask, is such a hefty investment really worth it? The reality is that Pato scored only 3 goals in his first season, performed passively, and was incompatible with the team's tactics, ultimately forcing TEDA to terminate the contract early at a significant loss. Expensive foreign players frequently underperform in the Chinese Super League (CSL), which is no longer an isolated phenomenon. On the other hand, those overlooked "budget-friendly" players are able to deliver impressive results with high cost-effectiveness. Is the CSL's recruitment model hitting a dead end? Tianjin TEDA's acquisition of Pato can be considered one of the classic cases of failed high-priced recruitment in the CSL. Behind the big spending of 18 million euros lies the blind faith of the club's management in Pato's "world-class resume," ignoring the fact that he had already lost his core competitiveness on the European stage. A "star" who cannot integrate into the team's tactical system not only performs poorly on the field but also drags down the overall operation of the club. Looking back at TEDA at that time, Pato's high transfer fee directly led to a surge in financial pressure, even affecting investments in other areas at one point. Of course, not all expensive foreign players in the CSL are "flops." Guangzhou Evergrande's recruitment of Paulinho is a rare example. This Brazilian player demonstrated exceptional standards during his two stints with Evergrande, becoming the absolute core of…

Shuffling Continues! The first departure in 2025 is officially announced, sidelining Choi Kang-hee, and the World Cup captain lands at Mount Tai. Why did Pato leave? How was Choi Kang-hee "sidelined"? With the addition of the World Cup captain, can this Shandong Taishan team return to its former glory? At the beginning of 2025, Shandong Taishan has been exposed to big news one after another. First, Pato announced his departure, then the power of head coach Choi Kang-hee was weakened, and the addition of World Cup star Aboubakar reignited fans' hopes. On one side is the team's reorganization drama, and on the other side is the management game behind it. Taishan's winter looks more exciting than the matches. At the beginning of 2025, Pato released a retirement statement through his personal Weibo, thanking the club and fans in the article, but it can be seen from the lines that this journey was not smooth. This superstar who once dominated the European arena has been lukewarm since joining Taishan, far from meeting external expectations. Pato's departure is actually not surprising. Data doesn't lie: throughout the 2024 season, his goal count was meager, and he often disappeared in key moments. Even though his personal ability is still there, he never integrated into Taishan's tactical system. He is a technical player who needs the whole team to revolve around him, but Taishan's past tactical core was obviously not like this. Some say this is a problem of "incompatibility"; others think that Taishan relies too much on foreign aid without considering the players' personalities…

Recently, according to domestic football insiders, the head coach of Shandong Taishan, Choi Kang-hee, has started scouting for suitable candidates to reinforce the team. At the same time, Choi Kang-hee recommended Brazilian Serie A midfielder Gomes to join Shandong Taishan. The 26-year-old Gomes is in his prime and is an absolute starter in the Brazilian league. However, Gomes' salary and transfer fee requirements are not high, with a transfer fee of only 400,000 euros and a post-tax annual salary of 700,000 euros. Many Shandong fans believe that Choi Kang-hee's recommendation of this new foreign aid is stronger than Pato, who was introduced in the 2023 season. Pato failed to deliver convincing performances after joining Shandong Taishan in 2023. Instead, he missed several opportunities in the game, quickly earning him the label of a "flop." Additionally, Shandong Taishan spent more than ten million yuan on Pato. Spending over ten million yuan to introduce Pato did not have the desired reinforcing effect, naturally leading many fans to question Choi Kang-hee's judgment. Shandong fans believe that listening to Choi Kang-hee and introducing Pato was a wrong decision. Pato had never even played in the Brazilian league, only winning the golden boot in the Indonesian league. Winning the golden boot in the Indonesian league is not very convincing. Therefore, Shandong fans had little confidence in Pato's ability to establish himself after joining the club. As expected, Pato performed mediocrely at Shandong Taishan and was directly labeled a flop. In this situation, Shandong Taishan's head coach Choi Kang-hee also learned from the experience and brought…

With the ringing of the New Year's bell, the annual "winter window" is also approaching. For professional clubs, the two most important things at this stage are: first, finding suitable transfer targets. Some veterans have retired, and mid-career players are seeking higher platforms, which has left vacancies in some clubs, and the transfer market is heating up. Second, entering the winter training phase, involving trials for new recruits, clubs are looking for suitable locations, with some teams going overseas for training. Regardless of where they are located, the quality of winter training will be the key to the success or failure of the new season. Based on past information, there will be significant changes for the Taishan Club in the new season. Familiar faces such as Sun Guowen, Tong Lei, and Liao Lisheng have left the team. In terms of foreign players, Patto has already left, and the contracts of Jadson and Marcel have expired, with no renewal results yet, leaving the possibility of their departure. The club's stance on aging personnel is clear: it is difficult for players over 30 years old to become transfer targets. Previously rumored transfer targets such as Zheng Dalun and Han Pengfei have little chance, and two transfer deals have naturally been cancelled, with both players joining Henan and Rongcheng teams. It can be said that Taishan's transfers are trending towards younger players. Of course, in addition to the transfer market, Taishan places great emphasis on talent reserves. On one hand, it selects from the youth training system, relying on Team B led by…

On the first day of 2025, Shandong Taishan team experienced a large-scale personnel change. Pato announced his departure from Taishan team on his social account, although the team has not officially announced it, but this is obviously his own declaration of leaving the team. After Pato left, the personnel adjustment of Taishan team continued, and the team doctors Sandro, Tong Lei, Liao Lisheng, Marcel and others also confirmed to leave, which was regarded as an important move to marginalize Choi Kang-hee. In this winter, the contradiction between Choi Kang-hee and the club of Shandong Taishan team has been made public, and there is a tendency of continuous intensification. According to the insiders of the club, the contradictions between the two sides mainly focus on the introduction policy and player renewal. In terms of introduction, Choi Kang-hee tried hard to introduce some players, such as Pato, who joined the team after being affected by injuries and did not meet expectations, and were regarded as a failed introduction case by the club. In the list of winter window introduction, most of the candidates submitted by Choi Kang-hee were rejected by the senior management of the club, including many old players who were out of fashion, such as Zheng Dalun, whom he always appreciated very much. The club believed that these players could not enhance the strength of the team. The problem of player renewal is even more the fuse of the contradiction. Although the injuries continued, Choi Kang-hee still insisted on giving him a three-year contract brought by Jadeson, which caused great…