Despite failing to lead a successful comeback to win back the Chinese Super League title, Shandong Taishan's manager Choi Kang-hee has brought significant changes to the team since joining the club. He has once again proved his coaching talent by lifting a team that was once at the bottom of the league to the runner-up spot, winning him rave reviews from the domestic media and fans. Looking ahead, Shandong Taishan are preparing for the AFC Cup final, and if they can beat Shanghai Shenhua to win the cup, not only will the season end perfectly, but they will also directly lock up a spot in the AFC Champions League next season.
As the Chinese Super League comes to an end, some players have been called up by their national teams to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers, while players from other clubs have been on vacation. The management of each team is keeping a close eye on potential targets in preparation for strengthening the squad. Shandong Taishan is expected to make its first signing this offseason. Recently, an online media outlet revealed that Shandong Taishan has renewed Cui Kangxi's contract for two years with a total salary of 60 million RMB. If this news is true, Cui Kangxi will break the Chinese Super League head coach salary record. In the Chinese Super League golden era of the end of the occasion, Shandong Taishan is still willing to provide Cui Kangxi high amount of contract extension, which fully reflects the trust of Cui Kangxi coaching ability.
Domestic media recently reported that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) might consider inviting Cui Kangxi to replace Yang Kovic as the head coach of the national team if the team fails to perform well in the World Cup qualifiers. But before Shandong Taishan's upcoming trip to the AFC Champions League group stage, Cui Kangxi clarified the rumors of coaching the national team at a conference, expressing his desire to remain with Shandong Taishan. In order to keep the South Korean manager, the club will naturally not skimp on the salary. With Shandong Taishan's first signing of the off-season about to be finalized, fans have reason to expect that under Cui Kangxi's leadership, the team will make a comeback next season and hit the Chinese Super League title. Shandong Taishan will continue to invest more, following the strategy of Cui Kangxi's team, to bring in key players and lay a solid foundation for winning the title. At the same time, the excellent young players trained from the Luneng Football School will also get more opportunities to play. These new stars represent the future of the national football team, and Cui Kangxi is promoting the progress of Chinese soccer in this way.
