The dust has settled on the new leadership of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), and the new president has quickly introduced three major reform measures since taking office. Recently, a major adjustment to the Chinese Super League's foreign aid policy has been in the spotlight, which has had a significant impact on the foreign aid market. The Chinese Super League's foreign aid policy is now in line with Asian soccer, and the naturalized player policy will also see changes. Currently, Shandong Taishan has two naturalized players, who will help the team to get rid of the unfair treatment in next season's Chinese Super League. This policy change is like a fire, quickly igniting the tide of change in the foreign aid market.
Known for his pragmatism, new FA president Song Kai announced a series of new league rules shortly after taking office. First, the rules for the use of foreign aid in the Chinese Super League have changed. In the past, the league was allowed to register six foreign aiders, but only a maximum of five per game, with no more than four actually playing. Under the new policy, this number has changed to 5+1, meaning that one Asian foreign aid must be included in the six foreign aid quotas. There are no restrictions on both registration and appearances, which is undoubtedly good news for Shandong Taishan.
Teams are free to send foreign aid in each game, which will improve the efficiency of the use of foreign aid, and is also a great boon to the foreign aid itself, which is expected to attract more high-level foreign aid to join. After all, the overall level of domestic players in the Chinese Super League still needs to be improved. The addition of foreign aid is crucial to the team's pursuit of excellence, which is also in line with the AFC's policy. For Shandong Taishan, this policy change is also favorable.
Shandong Taishan team can adjust the foreign aid strategy according to the actual needs. Previously, Sun Junho had occupied the Asian foreign aid quota, but now he can't return to the team and there is no Asian foreign aid in the team for the time being. Next season, Coach Choi Kang-hee may introduce a Korean foreign aid according to the team's needs. The foreign aid could be a back or a defender, and Jadson's role will be flexible. The team has improved its strength through the use of six foreign aiders, which will be a major reform in favor of Shandong Taishan's performance in the AFC Champions League.
Another new policy involves naturalized players. One of Shandong Taishan's players, Delgado, was naturalized through the team. Although he has less than five years of service in the Chinese Super League, he is still considered a foreign player. In the past, the naturalized player policy stipulated that each Chinese Super League team could only register one non-Chinese naturalized player. Under the old policy, Shandong Taishan had to choose between Delgado and Fernando next season. Now the policy has been adjusted so that both Chinese and non-Chinese naturalized players are considered as domestic helpers, and there is no restriction on the number of years they can play. Delgado will also become a domestic player next season, and as long as they meet Cui Kangxi's requirements, they are expected to stay in the team. Although they are not as strong as foreigners, they are definitely better than domestic players. After Choi Kang-hee's targeted training for them next season, they will be able to contribute more to the team.
