When it comes to the future of China's soccer midfield, Dai Weijun's name surely jumps to the mind of fans. Why is Dai Weijun in the lead? The reason is obvious, as everyone knows that players who have gone through European youth training are often better than those who come from the Chinese Super League. At the age of 11, Dai Weijun traveled to England with his father and joined the Reading Youth Training Camp, and since then, he has made a name for himself in Europe. He joined English Premier League powerhouse Wolves and has performed well in both the U19 and U21 teams.
Dai Weijun chose to return to his hometown because he wanted to play for the national team. After returning to China, he joined the Shenzhen team, although wearing the label of "tycoon", but showed excellent skills, and foreign aid Jintero tacit understanding with the team, won the praise of the crowd. In the meantime, the Shenzhen team has made every effort to promote Dai Weijun's development, and finally officially confirmed his status at the beginning of 2022. Dai Weijun also made his way into the national team, playing the last 12 games for the national team. Although he made his national team debut by coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute of the 0-2 defeat against Japan, his European style was slightly out of place in the national team's configuration at the time. However, the crowd is convinced that Dai Weijun will be the mainstay of the national team's midfield.
However, are our home-grown local midfielders really unbeatable? Zheng Zhi, Artemisia Artemisia, Deng Zhuoxiang, etc., are not all products of local youth training, and have they not also had a stunning performance? Who have we actually trained in the center of the midfield?
In fact, before Dai Weijun was in the national team's uniform, we had high expectations for a young player. This player is Duan Liuyu, who plays for Shandong Taishan. The reason for his attention is that he not only excels in his studies, but he is also a good thinker, which is quite rare among many players.
Duan Liuyu was born on July 24, 1998 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. He has loved soccer since childhood and was introduced to soccer at the age of five, showing extraordinary talent and potential.In 2010, he was admitted to Cuiyuan Middle School, a key middle school in Shenzhen, as a special soccer student, which provided him with a good soccer training and learning environment. During his time at Cuiyuan Middle School, he excelled and became a starter for the school's soccer team.On January 19, 2015, Duan officially signed with Shandong Luneng Taishan to become a professional soccer player. In order to bring in Duan Liuyu, Shandong Luneng Taishan paid a training fee of 1 million yuan, a record high for the value of a domestic youth player.
Over the next few years, Duan Liuyu made steady progress, and in July 2018, he was promoted to Shandong Taishan's first-team squad, ushering in a broad stage to showcase his talent. However, after the 2020 season, Duan Liuyu lost his starting position with Taishan. Appearances and starts were few and far between, and halfway through the league season, he only made two appearances. Obviously, Choi Kang-hee does not favor technical players like Duan Liuyu in the midfield position.
Duan Liuyu's growth has basically stagnated due to fewer recent matches. This is why people began to focus on Dai Weijun and ignore Duan Liuyu. As we all know, playing in Taishan team is very superior in terms of treatment and living condition. Therefore, many players are willing to stay in the Taishan team even if they can't play soccer. However, if a future star like Duan Liuyu has no pursuit, the future will be difficult to predict.
But recently, Duan Liuyu finally made up his mind to bravely step out of his comfort zone. Today, defending champions Wuhan Sanzhen officially announced that Duan Liuyu has joined the team on loan, which means that he will wear Wuhan Sanzhen's uniform in the second half of the season. Currently, the head coach of Wuhan Sanzhen is the Japanese coach Gao, and Duan Liuyu's technical style may be favored by him. We are also looking forward to Duan Liuyu's return at the end of the campaign, bringing competitive pressure to Dai Weijun.
