Zeca suffered an unfortunate injury during training, the exact extent of which is still unclear, all we know is that he has returned to Brazil and will have to wait for further tests to determine a treatment plan. Predictably, Zeca will definitely be unavailable for the upcoming AFC Champions League knockout match against Kawasaki Strikers. With the AFC Champions League knockout round approaching, it will be difficult for Taishan to find a suitable replacement from the outside, hence the decision to recall Delgado, who is currently in Portugal, as a precautionary measure.
According to the information from De Transfer, Taishan extended Delgado's contract for one year, which will be effective from 2024. From this moment on, Delgado will be registered as a domestic player in the domestic league and will not use the foreigner quota. According to our FA rules, domestic clubs can only allow one non-blood naturalized player to play, which means that if both Junior and Fernando play at the same time, one of them will be considered a foreigner. As it stands, Delgado is likely to return during this period and replace Zeca in the AFC Champions League knockout rounds.
Regarding the CPL, both Fernando and Delgado are eligible to register as domestic players. As for who will play, it will depend on how the two perform in training and matches. It can be said that the return of Xiaode has triggered a competitive effect, creating a good competition between the two. This also avoids the situation of Fernando's "negative game" last season, because their positions have been competed for, and once they play poorly, they will be directly replaced.
