takes a look at all the big Chinese news stories from the weekend so you don’t have to. One story not mentioned is Xu Liang’s signing with Shanghai Shenhua, the worst kept secret of the offseason, has been made official. Anyways, if you haven’t competed our (short!!!) 9 question survey yet, please do so! We are very greatful to all who have helped out and will take all the feedback we get to heart. This website is a labor of love and it’s great to hear from our readers about what we can do to make it even better.
–Dalian Aerbin has appointed Xu Hong as their manager. He’s said to have signed a three year deal for an undisclosed amount. Xu is a former Dalian Wanda and Chinese international, who played for the club during the glory years of Dalian football. He’s a Liaoning native and his last stint as manager was with Shide spanning 2008-2010 when originally brought in as an assistant and then promoted and retained when the foreign manager left. It’s good to see another Chinese manager in the CSL.
–In other managerial news, Korean media is reporting Lee Jangsoo rejected an offer to take over as manager in Wuhan. The Korean is said to have mulled over the prospects of a fifth CSL managerial position, but in the end decided against it. In other Wuhan related news, we’ll carry an interview with the chairman later in the week, but he says they “won’t be a second Evergrande” and instead of instantly spending big, they will work on longterm development of the team. He also stated that their budget for the upcoming season is an impressive RMB150 million and that he expects a top 10 finish from his club.
–A number of clubs have started their winter training. Here are pictures from Shandong, Wuhan, and Beijing.
–We’ve previously carried news that Guoan is looking at Yanbian youngster Xu Bo. Though he’s played as a forward for the northeastern club, Guoan is trying to get him to adapt to playing wingback. Certainly an interesting experiment.
–Guangzhou R&F is focusing on strengthening its defense this offseason. They were in talks during 2012 with Henan defender Zhao Peng, but those talks fell through at the last minute, now that Henan has been relegated, they are highly likely to sign the Chinese international. Also on their radar is Shenzhen youngster Yi Teng, who was formerly with FC Metz in France. R&F is said to be offering RMB15 million for the 22 year old.
–The Chinese U22s took on Korea once again last night, this time in Hefei,and once again a late goal decided the match. Unfortunately for China, this time around it was a Korean strike in the 82nd minute that decided the match, 1-0. After failing to qualify for the Olympics, the U22 side has performed impressively in the last two matches.
–We’ve previously seen Shanghai Shenxin using a red, blue, and gold logo on their Sina Weibo page but never really talked about it. The logo, a stylized rooster, looks strikingly similar to that of the French Football Federation, so much so that it was hard to take seriously. However, it is serious and over the past few days photos have leaked of Nike gear for the upcoming season and the new logo is used on it. First a similar name to the team they share Shanghai with, now a very similar color scheme as well?
–On another uniform related note, the CSL has a new numbers font in 2013, it will be slightly thicker than last years and, for the first time, will include the CSL logo at the base of each number. This is highly unlikely to interest anyone other than me, but I’ve always been kit crazed.
Drogba to Juve is odds on (1/3) in the bookies, whats going on there?
He says he wants a longer loan deal(to ensure he never has to return to Shenhua before the end of his career)?
I wish I could buy Chinese Super League kits… wouldn’t mind one or two. Some of their designs are pretty nice.
We just might fulfill that wish, stay tuned!