On the night of July 23rd, Wuhan Sanzhen defeated Meizhou Hakka 2-1 in the grand finale of the 18th round of the Chinese Super League, earning their sixth win of the season. Currently in seventh place, Sanzhen is only two points away from fourth-place Taishan, which indicates that Sanzhen is still expected to be among the top teams. Despite the first phase of the league and a coaching change, Samjung have not wavered in their determination to pursue excellence in the league, cup and AFC Champions League. With foreigner Park Ji-soo joining the defense and Yoo-woo bolstering the backline, the Sanzen club is targeting 29-year-old local top scorer Malcolm for a strong forward line. The shot-stopper moved from Brazil to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah National in January.
Malcolm, who is expected to arrive in China on July 24, will be put to work directly for the Three Towns club after his flight from Saudi Arabia, Beijing Youth Daily revealed. According to the rules of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), the Chinese Super League (CSL) registers a maximum of seven foreign players per club during the two transfer windows each season. Three Town have registered seven foreign players this season, including Malcolm and Park Ji-soo. Although the Chinese Super League's foreign aid policy is limited to a maximum of five players for a single game, the new season's AFC Champions League will be relaxed to a "five-player" plus "foreign aid policy," meaning that Sanzhen has six foreign aiders who can be registered for the AFC Champions League.
Tri-Town's re-recruitment of Malcom is undoubtedly aimed at boosting the team's attacking power. Previously, Aziz, as Malcolm's replacement, has fired in nine goals to rank fifth on the Super League's top scorers list this season. While Edmilson, the team's second top scorer, has five goals to his name. Malcom's return will undoubtedly bring a qualitative leap to the Three Town's offense.
