Shandong Taishan is the earliest Chinese Super League club in the winter transfer market this year. At the beginning of this year, many media exposed the news that Tong Lei will join. But now that March is almost half over, Taishan's introduction of Tong Lei is still up in the air. The club has yet to officially announce their addition, with several other new recruits arriving at the team for trials.
It can be said that Taishan team this year is "early to catch up with the late set". When many Chinese Super League clubs announced new recruits to join, Taishan did not have new recruits to formalize.
Among the four new recruits currently training with the team, Taishan Club undoubtedly values Dalian wing Tong Lei the most. In order to strengthen the team's backline, Taishan communicated with Tong Lei soon after the end of last season, hoping to bring in the international wingback.
Tong Lei, whose contract with Dalian Ren has expired, also hopes to join champion team Shandong Taishan. However, due to the contract dispute with Dalian Ren club, Tong Lei can't leave Dalian Ren freely. Currently, Dalian, Shandong Taishan and Tong Lei are all waiting for the arbitration result from the FA. If the FA rules in favor of Dalian Ren, Tong Lei may find it difficult to join Taishan in the winter window.
Besides Tong Lei, the most important target of Taishan club in the winter window is undoubtedly Yan Dinghao of Guangzhou team. After Xu Xin was poached by the port last season, Taishan brought in Liao Lisheng to fill the midfield vacancy, but Liao's performance was too poor to replace Xu Xin.
Therefore, Taishan urgently needs to bring in a key midfielder who can work with Sun Junho this season, and Yan Dinghao is undoubtedly the best choice. But this time, Taishan team is blocked again. Yan Dinghao has reportedly decided to join Wuhan Sanzhen. He recently followed Wuhan Sanzhen's official account on social media, further confirming the veracity of the news.
As a direct competitor of Taishan's Chinese Super League title, Wuhan Sanzhen's introduction has been very purposeful. The introduction of Yan Dinghao has not only strengthened the team's midfield, but also weakened Shandong Taishan.
For Taishan, they had a rather unfavorable transfer window this winter and the team has had a lot of problems lately. Players such as Hao Wei, Dai Lin and Wu Xinghan have all been exposed to negative news. As a result, the club has also been greatly affected. Currently, many important positions on the team's coaching staff are vacant and the spring training program had to be adjusted. Initially, training in Japan was also changed to Shanghai.
In addition, only Sun Junho, Jadson and Delgado returned to Taishan's seven foreign aiders. There is no accurate news about when the other four foreign aiders will return to the team, which undoubtedly adds more difficulties to the already short-staffed Taishan team.
From the current situation, Taishan will have a very difficult time in the new season, unable to strengthen the midfield through the signing of the team is likely to have the problem of "waist weakness". The resurgence of Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua will also make it more difficult for Taishan to win the title in the new season. If the club's operations don't get back on the right track soon, competing for the Chinese Super League title may become a luxury.
