Xu Xin's position has strength in kicking, but he excels in offense. Cai Huikang is good at defense, but due to his age and declining form, it is hard to get a chance to start. Therefore, Seaports need to find a defensively strong back player in a hurry. According to the latest reports from the domestic media, the Seaports plan to bring in Wuhan Sanzhen's national team back-rower He Chao in the summer transfer window of the Chinese Super League.
He Chao, 29, joined Changchun Yatai and quickly became a starter. In the 2016 season, he almost won the best newcomer award in the Chinese Super League. However, in the 2018 season, Changchun Yatai fell into the first division, and He Chao was labeled as a "player on the shelf".
At that time, the two rich and powerful clubs in the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande and Tianjin Quanjian, were eager to sign the domestic midfielder with extraordinary strength. In order to compete for He Chao, Evergrande even offered Changchun Yatai a transfer fee of more than 100 million yuan. In the end, Evergrande beat Tianjin Quanjian and succeeded in signing He Chao.
He Chao won his first career Chinese Super League title in his first season with Evergrande. During his time with Evergrande, He Chao was invited by Lippi to be selected for the national team and participated in the 2019 East Asian Cup. However, the good times didn't last long as Evergrande fell into a slump at the end of the 2021 season due to financial problems at the club's parent company, and He Chao then moved to Chinese Super League newcomers Wuhan Sanzhen in 2022.
He Chao's luck was really quite good, and shortly after joining Wuhan Sanzhen, the team won the championship. However, Three Town soon experienced a similar challenge from Evergrande, with the club struggling after investors pulled out. This season, many of Wuhan Sanzhen's foreign and national team players left the team, and He Chao was rumored to leave, but in the end he decided to stay with Sanzhen.
At the moment, Shanghai Seaport is planning to bring in He Chao to strengthen the midfield in the summer transfer window. Considering that the pattern of the Chinese Super League has completely changed, Wei Shihao's transfer to Chengdu Rongcheng will only cost 5 million RMB, so the financial conditions for Shanghai Seaport to bring in He Chao will certainly not exceed this amount. Therefore, as long as Shanghai Seaport puts forward reasonable conditions for a transfer deal, Wuhan Sanzhen has absolutely no reason to refuse. Once He Chao joins the team, the midfield strength of Shanghai Seaports will be further strengthened, and the defense of the Chinese Super League title this season will be within reach.
