Many soccer fans may have witnessed the glory days of our Chinese Super League, a golden era of nearly a decade that could be described as magnificent. At that time, almost every club was financially strong, and their money flowed into buying top foreign aid and hoarding international players. As a result, the Chinese Super League was known as the "Landlord League". At that time, star coaches such as Lippi and Eriksson made their appearances, while stars such as Drogba, Anelka, Conca, Hulk and Oscar also shone here. The spectacle of the league has increased dramatically, and the AFC Champions League has been equally impressive. Our Football Association is even more ambitious, shouting the slogan of creating the world's sixth largest league.
However, as the golden dollar era deepens, the arms race of the clubs becomes more and more intense. From the initial importation of foreign aid, to international players, to young players, even some young players outside the first team can get millions of annual salary. But it all seems to have come to an end, we seem to have lost the motivation to keep competing, and the golden dollar era has gone downhill.
It was at this point that our CFA opened the naturalization era, and naturalized players became the object of pursuit for major clubs. Beijing Guoan took the lead by introducing Hou Yong Yong and Li Ke, and Shandong Taishan also introduced the young Portuguese player Delgado. Guangzhou Evergrande, on the other hand, took the lead by naturalizing 7 naturalized players at once, including Ackerson, Alan, Luo Guofu, Fernando, Gaolat, Jiang Guangtai and Xiao Tao Tao. Obviously, Guangzhou Evergrande became the biggest winner.
It is worth mentioning that the naturalized players can participate in the Chinese Super League as domestic players as long as they have Chinese nationality in the first season of joining. Therefore, many teams began to worry, Guangzhou Evergrande team naturalized 7 people, if the introduction of another 4 foreign aid, is not equal to "all foreign aid" to play the Chinese Super League? How should other teams compete? So, in the second season, the Football Association modified the rules for naturalized players, limiting the number of non-Chinese players and stipulating that non-Chinese naturalized players, although with Chinese nationality, are not eligible to play for the national soccer team, and they have to serve as foreign aiders. Evergrande's naturalization advantage thus disappeared, and the other teams achieved balance.
However, this restriction, originally aimed at Evergrande, has put Shandong Taishan's Delgado in a difficult position. As the first non-blood naturalized player in the history of Chinese soccer naturalization, Delgado was unable to represent the national football team under FIFA's naturalization rules. However, in the first season, there was no restriction in the Chinese Super League (CSL), and Delgado played in the CSL as an internal reinforcement in the 2019 season. However, in the second season, Evergrande was restricted and so was Delgado. In this case, Delgado is not only regarded as a foreign aid in the Chinese Super League, but also in the league of any country. He instantly became the "Chosen Foreign Aid".
As a result of this embarrassing situation, Shandong Taishan even almost gave up on Delgado and loaned him back to Portugal. But in the middle of the second season, FIFA changed the rules and Delgado suddenly had the possibility to represent the national soccer team for only five seasons in China. As a result, he was urgently recalled to the team. However, due to the rules of the Chinese Super League at the time, he did not reach the five-year threshold despite the possibility of playing for the national soccer team, and thus was still considered a foreigner. In the second half of the 2020 season, he could only play in the reserve team.
In the 2021 season, Delgado was not enrolled until the second half of the season as Shandong Taishan chased the title. Happily, Delgado was amazing in the second half of the season, starting 10 out of 18 games, scoring 9 goals and assisting 3 times, helping Shandong Taishan win the double of the Chinese Super League and FA Cup. However, in the 2022 season, Delgado was once again unregistered as the team wanted to defend their title and brought in new foreigners. In the second half of the season, he was loaned out to Kunshan FC, where Delgado continued to perform well, making 8 starts in 18 matches, scoring 7 goals and assisting 2 times to help the team go over the top.
With two consecutive outstanding seasons and a huge change in the rules of the Chinese Super League in 2023, many expected Delgado to return to Shandong Taishan and play as a domestic player in the new season. But unfortunately, Delgado may be as a foreign player for three consecutive seasons. According to Shandong TV sports channel, the 2023 professional league music department meeting was held at the Xianghe national team base, and the meeting had no substantial changes to the policy on foreign aid and naturalized players, which means that Delgado, a naturalized player from Taishan, will be registered as a foreign aid when he qualifies for China's national team five years before he becomes a naturalized player.
Recently, Delgado himself seemed to be aware of the news, posting photos on social media of him training alone in the gym. It's clear that he's working very hard, but it's hard not to feel lost. After all, it's a bit ironic that after nearly four years of joining China, he can now only play as a foreigner. Moreover, Delgado is likely to remain on loan in the new season and will not be able to play for Taishan.
Do you think Delgado is a pity? Guangzhou Evergrande has been relegated. Should the FA change the rules for naturalized players? Feel free to discuss in the comment section!
