In an interview on September 30, Zhang Dong, vice chairman and general manager of Qingdao Hainiu, revealed that Qingdao is desperately longing for a Chinese Super League team to match.
The first three phases of this season's China League One came to an end, with Qingdao Hainiu in third place with 50 points. Reviewing the first three stages of the tournament, Zhang Dong emphasized, "This prosperous city is in dire need of a Chinese Super League division that can match it. As practitioners in the field of soccer, we have the responsibility and even more so the obligation to realize this goal."
Veteran Yin Tiesheng, who is returning to Qingdao Hainiu for the third time this season, lamented: "Qingdao has an excellent soccer atmosphere, with a constant flow of reserve talents and enthusiastic fans. In particular, I admire President Qiao Weiguang of Zhongneng Group for his perseverance in professional soccer. This is the biggest motivation for me to choose to join the Manatees."
Zheng Long, who returned to his hometown team, said, "19 years of soccer love, this love is worthy of everyone's admiration. Returning here is both a legacy of soccer and the club's recognition of us traveler players, which I am very grateful for. I hope to work together with the team to return to the Chinese Super League."
Talking about the team's youth training work, Zhang Dong said: "We always regard youth training as the cornerstone of building a 'century club', constantly exploring, steadily improving, and strive for Qingdao and even China's soccer to find a youth training road suitable for their own characteristics. The sustainable development of professional clubs cannot be separated from the continuous delivery of talents. Practice has proved that only down-to-earth youth training is the key to the improvement of Chinese soccer. Qingdao Manatee is willing to take root in youth training and cultivate more and better soccer talents for this soccer city."
