On June 5, Shandong Taishan welcomed Wuhan under coach Li Xiaopeng for a fierce battle in Jinan. Although the match ended in a 1-1 draw, it was highlighted by a brilliant goal from young midfielder Zhang Yuanshu. Given that as many as nine of the team's starters were absent for some reason, Taishan focused on testing their replacements for this match, with foreigners Fellaini and Leonardo starting the match. The latest news reveals that Fellaini has successfully renewed his contract with Taishan, and the new contract will be extended until December 31, 2025, which may become the last working contract of his career.
In the unfavorable situation of missing 9 starters, Taishan shook hands with Wuhan 1-1, Zhang Yuanshu scored a goal to help
With the first five rounds of the Chinese Super League coming to an end, the league has entered a short break. Originally planned to be a month-long break, the possibility of the league being postponed has increased due to changes in the National Football League's World Qualification program. Currently, the Taishan team is conducting regular training at the base to prepare for the next stage of the tournament. As a result of the national team's call-up, the Taishan squad is not complete, Sun Junhao has been called up to the South Korean men's soccer team, Artemisia Junmin, Wang Dalei, Liu Binbin, Wu Xinghan, Jin Jingdao, Zheng Zheng and Ji Xiang have been selected by the Chinese men's soccer team to go to the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the World Qualification Tournament.U22 national soccer team member Guo Tianyu trained with the team in Dalian.The absence of nine main players has a big impact on the Taishan squad.
With most of their starters out of action, Taishan arranged two warm-up matches to examine the performance of their replacements. the first warm-up match was against Wuhan on June 5, with Taishan starting goalkeeper Han Rongze, and Shi Ke and Song Long continuing to start in the backline, both of whom have become the league's main choices. Junior Zhao Jianfei partnered with Shi Ke at center back, and right back Wang Tong made his comeback after missing four rounds of the league due to injury and started at right back.
In midfield, Xu Xin and Qi Tianyu partner at the back, Duan Liuyu and Zhang Qi as wingbacks, Fellaini as a forward and Leonardo as a striker. Wuhan's lineup is also incomplete, with internationals Tomorrow and Dong Chunyu absent, Fang Hao selected for the U22 national soccer team, and Li Xiaopeng scouting for more substitutes. In the first half of the game, both teams did not make any progress. In the 30th minute, Zhang Qi's cross, Leonardo header to create a threat, but unfortunately failed to break the goal. In the second half, both teams replaced a number of players, Taishan team more young people on the field, Duan Liuyu also served as captain, 1997-born Zhang Yuanshu seized the opportunity to score the winning goal, Wuhan team in the final moments of the game equalized the score.
In the end, Taishan drew 1-1 with Wuhan, and both sides achieved the purpose of examining and training players. This season, Taishan and Wuhan are not in the same district, the first 5 rounds of Taishan team 3 wins, 2 draws and 11 points, Wuhan team 2 draws and 3 losses and 2 points, the future of the league when they can meet, but also depends on the schedule. After the warm-up match, Taishan will face Tianjin Jinmen Tiger on June 9. Chen Kerui, Kadar and Li Songyi, who are on loan from Taishan to Tianjin this season, will return to Jinan with the team to play against their old masters, and their performance will be the focus of the match.
Fellaini extends four-year contract or ends up with T&T as future formation structure emerges
Foreign aid is an important part of the Chinese Super League, and this season Taishan had three foreign aiders on the field in the first five rounds of the league, with Fellaini captaining the team in the match against Shenzhen. This is not the first time that Fellaini wears the captain's armband of the Taishan team, in the second half of last season, he has repeatedly started as captain, and Taishan head coach Hao Wei recognizes him very much. This season, Taishan team foreign aid lineup changes, Pelé and Kadar left the team, Gedes and Moises failed to return in time, Fellaini became the core of the team's foreign aid, he played a more important role on the field. In the first 5 rounds of the league, Fellaini made 5 appearances and scored 3 goals, including a shutout of Guangzhou and a draw with Shenzhen, becoming the team's deserved first foreign aid.
Fellaini joined Taishan in 2019, when he signed a 3-year contract with the team, with the original contract ending on December 31, 2021. The latest news shows that Fellaini has successfully renewed his contract with Taishan, and the new contract will be extended until December 31, 2025, which means that Taishan and Fellaini have extended their contract for 4 years. If Fellaini plays for Taishan until 2025, he will be 38 years old and will probably choose to retire after his contract expires. In a way, this new 4-year contract between Fellaini and Taishan will most likely be the last working contract of his career, and Fellaini may end up playing for Taishan.
Looking at Fellaini's overall performance, he deserves such a contract extension. Recently, Fellaini has also been very active on social media, constantly updating himself on his training, and he has integrated well into the team life and gradually become the core player of the team. Fellaini is a versatile player on the pitch, not only can play as a back, but also guest center forward and center back, in the future, with the age, Fellaini's role may also have new changes, he has enough strength to deal with.
In addition to Fellaini, the contracts of several important players of Taishan team have also changed. Information from the German Transfer Market shows that goalkeeper Han Rongze, whose new contract expires in December 2024, is an important reserve for the goalkeeper position of Taishan and has the strength to become the team's starting goalkeeper. Young Duan Liuyu's contract will expire in May 2025 and Guo Tianyu's in November 2025, both of whom are Taishan's future hopes.
In addition, this season, Taishan team signed a number of new aid also signed a long contract, Xu Xin signed 5 years, Ji Xiang signed 4 years, they are Taishan team future formation structure of important choices. Of course, Taishan is also facing the challenge of a number of major players' contracts expiring this season. The contracts of Wang Dalei, Artemisia Artemisia, Zheng Zheng, Zhang Qi and Liu Binbin will all expire on December 31, 2021, and their stay or departure will also be the focus of the game. It should be noted that the data of player contracts in the German transfer market is for reference only, and it is believed that the team will be able to operate in a timely manner in response to the different situations of the players.
For Taishan, player reserve has not been a problem. At this stage, Taishan also has a number of young players on loan, such as Chen Pu and Fang Hao, both of whom have played well in the Chinese Super League this season. In addition, Liu Chaoyang, Ji Shengpan, Tian Yuda and other young players are also working out in the Chinese League A. The renewal of the lineup is a gradual process, and Taishan team should also be well prepared.
