Upon entering the Shandong Taishan team, South Korean head coach Choi Kang-hee began a massive reshuffle of the team's lineup. Last season, many of the team's star players were discarded. One of the most typical examples is left back Song Long.
Born in Qingdao, Song Long, 34, began his professional career in 2010 at the age of 21 when he joined his hometown team Qingdao Zhongneng (Qingdao Hainiu). The physically gifted Song Long has not only stabilized his career at Zhongneng, but has also been selected for the Olympic Games this year.
Despite Qingdao Zhongneng being relegated to the Central League at the end of the 2013 season, Song Long's performances in the team were still notable, and as a result, he was favored by Shandong Luneng (Shandong Taishan), who brought Song Long from Qingdao for a whopping 12 million yuan in the 2016 season.
Despite killing it in the Central League, Song Long failed to start after joining Shandong Taishan, and was used as Zheng Zheng's replacement under many of the former Taishan coaches. It wasn't until the second half of the 2020 season, when Li Xiaopeng resigned and Hao Wei took over as the team's coach, that Song Long gradually became Taishan's starting left back.
Song Long was arguably very lucky to have just broken into Taishan's starting lineup and won the 2020 season's FA Cup with the team. Since then, he's been on a roll, winning back-to-back Super League and F.A.C. Cup double titles with Taishan for the 2022 season, as well as the F.A.C. Cup last season.
However, after Hao Wei was arrested as the head coach of Taishan, Song Long soon lost his starting position in the team. In fact, Choi Kang-hee gave Song Long a chance when he first joined the Taishan team, but his performance in the game was really poor and not up to Choi Kang-hee's expectation at all.
Especially in the match between Shandong Taishan and Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, Song Long guarded the left side of the field which was blown up by Jinmen Tigers and the team's three goals conceded were directly related to him. At the end of the first half, Choi Kang-hee replaced Song Long. He hasn't gotten a minute of playing time since the end of this game.
Song Long, who was dumped by Choi Kang-hee, will soon see his contract with Taishan FC expire. According to the German transfer website, Song Long has less than five months left on his contract with the club. From the current situation, it is absolutely impossible for him to renew his contract with Taishan.
As a result, it was recently reported that Song Long will return to the Qingdao Manatees as a free agent next season. Indeed, Song Long has the chance to return to the Qingdao Sea Bulls in the Chinese Super League's summer transfer window, but he is still hoping to return to his old employers as a free agent when his contract with Taishan expires.
It means a lot to Song Long that after eight years, the fallen leaf returns to his hometown Qingdao and joins the Sea Bulls for the second time. It is hoped that the 34-year-old will continue to maintain his form, play two seasons for the Sea Bulls, help the team complete the transition between the old and the new, and join the Sea Bulls' coaching staff after his retirement to contribute to the revitalization of Qingdao's soccer.
