Guoan last made a big move in the transfer market back in the 2019 season. At the time, an ambitious Guoan brought in a lot of powerful domestic foreigners, including Zhang Yuning, Wang Gang, and Kim Min Ja. That year was also the closest Guoan has come to winning the league title in recent years. Since then, a combination of subjective and objective factors has left Guoan stretched in terms of signings, and their performance has continued to decline. Guoan, which will return to the Gongtian Stadium this season, naturally hopes to have a brand new look, and to achieve good results, it is necessary to have a good player. Up to now, Yang Liyu, Fang Hao, Li Lei, De Sousa and other 4 domestic and foreign aiders have basically confirmed to join Guoan, another 2 foreign aid.
There's no question about De Souza's ability
Injuries are a hurdle.
De Souza, a 34-year-old Brazilian back, is the first new foreigner brought in by Guoan this season.
There is no doubt about the ability of the 1.88-meter tall De Souza. After all, after starting out with Brazilian domestic powerhouse Da Gama, he has excelled in both South American and European soccer. During his time at Porto, although De Souza was not an absolute starter, he did win the UEFA Cup with the team in the 2010-2011 season.
In 2012 and 2013, he occupied the starting midfield position at Gremio, making 92 appearances for the team in various matches, scoring 3 goals and assisting 10 times.After moving to São Paulo in 2014, he remained in good form, making 56 appearances in a year and a half, with stats of 5 goals and 3 assists. It's fair to say that, as a back-row player, he not only has the ability to intercept midfielders well, but also has some forward awareness. It was because of his great performances in Brazil that De Souza returned to European competition in the summer of 2015, joining Turkish side Fenerbahce. That said, he won his first game that year.
De Souza's three consecutive seasons with the Turkish Super Lig giants made him calmer and subsequently caught the attention of West Asian giants Jeddah National.In the summer of 2018, the Saudi giants paid €12 million to take him to the Asian circuit. During those two years in Saudi Arabia, he remained an absolute mainstay of the team.In September 2020, De Souza returned to the Turkish Super Lig on a free transfer to join another giants, Besiktas. Although the Brazilian was already in his 30s at the time, his outstanding physical qualities and excellent technical and tactical skills allowed him to take his place in the Turkish Super League. It wasn't until he left the team that De Souza entered the team.
With De Souza's contract with Besiktas set to expire in June this year, Guiao's signing of the midfielder, who is only on a six-month contract, was a relatively cost-effective deal. However, the Besiktas captain has been injured since the start of the season. He missed a lot of games due to a knee meniscus injury. Whether he will be able to play in full fitness when he arrives in the Chinese Super League is now a question mark.
Yang Liyu can improve the quality of Guoan's offense.
The addition of 26-year-old former international Yang Liyu has excited Guoan fans. The versatile forward, who can play in several positions up front, will shoulder the very important responsibility of enhancing Guoan's attacking firepower.
Last season, Guoan's overall record was not satisfactory. Although Zhang Yuning played well, it was hard to hide the weakness of the team's lack of offense. Guoan, as a traditional domestic giant, only scored 57 goals, which did not meet the outside world's expectations. Not only is there a reason for the foreigners' slump, but there is also the factor that the entire team's offensive system is not perfect, and it is not hard to understand why the team only ended up finishing seventh in the league.
In the new season, in order to solve the problem of weak attacking firepower, Guoan has made targeted reinforcement. Yang Liyu, who once proved himself in Guangzhou Evergrande and the national team, is a very good choice. In terms of his age, he is the same age as Zhang Yuning and is in his playing years. Despite Guangzhou's poor record last season, he made 32 appearances and scored 9 goals, setting a new career high. More commendably, as a versatile frontcourt player, Yang Liyu can not only be a leading attacker, but also excels at assisting, which was especially prominent in the 2019 season. That season, Yang also contributed in 29 games across a variety of competitions.
So what impact will the addition of Yang Liyu have on national security? With the current personnel in place, Yang Liyu will still be seen on the wing, but given that Zhang Yuning is still injured, perhaps there is an opportunity for Yang to be pushed into the center forward position in the early stages of the league. Of course, when Yang Liyu appears in the more familiar winger position, his breakthrough passing ability is the most important thing for Guoan. After all, with Zhang Yuning as a good "finishing point" for Guoan, Yang Liyu can provide good help to his teammates.
For the rest of the attackers up front, no matter who matches up with Yang Liyu, they should have an easier time than before. Once Adebenelo, Kang Xiangyou or Wang Gang are able to develop chemistry with him, Guoan's side attack and defense will change significantly.
Early finalization of Fang Hao's "investment" future
As a matter of fact, every season, the names of young people appear in the list of signings of Guoan. On the one hand, it is because of the need of the u23 policy, and on the other hand, it is also because the club has stockpiled new strength from the consideration of future development. But unfortunately, very few of the youngsters introduced from 2018 until now have been playing in the first team. In the upcoming 2023 season, Guoan has made another move in bringing in new recruits. This time, 23-year-old striker Fang Hao, who has already proven his ability, will arrive.
Fang Hao has been a mainstay of the national ladder at all age groups and was also selected for the men's Asian Games team. The highlight of his performance was his "Senior Happy" against Thailand in the Dubai Cup last year. Since Guoan is no longer the same team that had super foreigners + top domestic players, it would be better to be pragmatic and give more opportunities to young players like Fang Hao who have stood out in China.
The fact that Guoan has finalized Fang Hao's transfer reflects the importance Guoan attaches to the rising star. Coach Stanley is best at digging up and developing young players. Under his control, this piece of Puyu may not become an impressive "beautiful jade" for too long.
Li Lei's return to Guoan is the best result of a two-way run.
In fact, when Swiss club Grasshopper loaned and brought in Japanese player Teruyuki Hara, everyone realized that there wasn't much time and opportunity left for Li Lei. After all, as a non-EU player, the Chinese wing-back was under huge competitive pressure. It was difficult for him to continue to stand firm in the Swiss league, as he was not superior in terms of age and physical condition. Returning to his home country is the best option for him. Since he chose to "go home", Guoan is the best place for him.
At the beginning of 2022, Li Lei left Guoan, where he had played for seven seasons, for Switzerland, leaving behind a record of four goals and 13 assists in 141 games, while Guoan left behind the No. 4 jersey for him. Now, when Liu Huan retires, Kim Tae-Yeon leaves the team, and the left back position is incomplete, the former starter's return to Guoan is definitely the best outcome for a two-way forward. Li Lei and Yang Liyu are scheduled to travel to Haikou on March 7 to meet up with Guoan.
Reinforcements continue
With Ademi on the short list, a strong backup centerback won't be easy to find.
In addition to the four internal and external reinforcements mentioned above, Guoan's signing pace continues. 31-year-old North Macedonian midfielder Ademi, who plays for Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb, is also one of Guoan's key targets. Ademi has been playing for Dinamo Zagreb for 10 consecutive seasons and is one of the key players in Dinamo's midfield, with unquestionable strength.
However, for Guoan, there is a positional overlap between Ademi and Brazilian midfielder De Souza. Compared to the Brazilian, Ademi's ability to attack and defend well may be more obvious. His good tape skills and finishing ability have been on full display in Croatia. In the past, he has scored 40 goals and 29 assists in 381 appearances for Dinamo.
However, since last season, the 31-year-old is no longer a starter in the league. However, when he arrived to play in Europe, the coach still put more trust in experienced players like him, which made him fulfill almost all the matches of the team's intercontinental competitions. So from that point of view, Ademi's attacking attributes are much stronger than De Souza's. If he can join smoothly, it will be very helpful for Guoan to improve the hardness of the midfield.
At center back, Guoan has never given up on finding a new foreigner. As for the report of Cameroonian N'Gadjou of Belgium's Gent, it can only be said that he is one of the candidates and the negotiation between the two sides has not yet reached a consensus. In addition to him, Guoan also in all aspects of the search for suitable foreign aid. Fortunately, there is still some time before the "window closes", Guoan is not in a hurry to determine this key position.
