Jiang Shenglong's contract was renewed for 3 years, Yu Hanchao continued to stay in the team, and Shenhua may welcome international domestic reinforcements in the new season

Special correspondent Gan Hui reports that in more than a week, Shenhua will gather at the Jiushi Kangqiao Sports Base to start preparing for the winter training of the 2024 season. Judging from the current situation, the team that won the FA Cup last season and ranked 5th in the Chinese Super League will have certain changes in personnel in many links, including some very key positions.

At noon on December 23, Shenhua Club officially announced the completion of contract renewal with first-team players Jin Shunkai, Jiang Shenglong, Yang Zexiang and Zhou Zhengkai. At the same time, Shenhua said: "In the new season, they will continue to move forward side by side with Shenhua, and we also look forward to them constantly improving themselves and bringing more victories and glory to Shenhua!"

Due to his excellent performance in the past 2023 season, Jiang Shenglong's contract issue has been a lot of concern from the outside world. Previously, there were rumors that Jiang Shenglong would go abroad to study abroad, and there were also rumors that he would join a Chinese Super League team with a high salary. In this regard, Shenhua Club did not respond, because the club's contract renewal communication with Jiang Shenglong was very smooth. The club understands and supports young players to play abroad, and in the contract renewal negotiations, the club clearly told Jiang Shenglong that under the right conditions, it will help him go abroad to further improve himself. This time, Shenhua renewed the contract with Jiang Shenglong for 3 years.

Because of his outstanding performance in the 2023 season, Yang Zexiang won a contract extension for himself. At the beginning of the 2023 season, Yang Zexiang was just a fringe player in the Shenhua team and rarely had the opportunity to play. Due to Cui Lin's injury and long-term absence, Yan Xinli's defensive sense of position and ability was weak, Yang Zexiang got the opportunity to play, and he also seized the opportunity and gradually occupied a main position, this time Yang Zexiang renewed his contract for 2 years.

Kim Soon-kai and Zhou Zheng-kai are both players born in 2001. In the 2023 season, Jin Shunkai has a record of 4 appearances, and Zhou Zhengkai did not play because of his special position and being the team's No. 3 goalkeeper. In fact, the renewal of the club's contract with the two has already been completed, renewing the contract for 3 years and 2 years respectively.

Shenhua's original contracts with these four players all expire at the end of this year, and Shenhua's first team contracts expire at the end of this year, and these four players are not the only ones whose contracts expire at the end of this year. This means that some players who have expired their contracts will leave as free agents, including individual players who have had high expectations.

After the Shenhua Club officially announced its relationship with Jin Shunkai, Jiang Shenglong, Yang Zexiang, and Zhou Zhengkai, many fans asked about Yu Hanchao's situation. According to the reporter's understanding from the Shenhua Club, Yu Hanchao is not among the players whose contract expires this year, so the veteran who made great achievements for the team last season must continue to fight in the squad of Shenhua in the new season.

In terms of foreign aid, Basogo and Yan Xinli's contracts with the club expire at the end of this year. Basogo is known to be the highest-paid player in the Shenhua squad, but last season, he only contributed two goals and one assist in the league, which made it difficult for him to secure a contract extension for Shenhua. Although Yan Xinli's salary is not high, as a foreign aid, his ability is still lacking, and there are obvious shortcomings. At the end of the season, he gradually lost his position as the absolute main player.

The years change, the personnel are like a dream, the new person replaces the old, this is the norm for every team every season. In the new season, Shenhua will have new domestic and foreign players to join. At present, Shenhua is one of the few Chinese Super League clubs with very stable operations, which also makes Shenhua one of the most ideal homes for many domestic players. If all goes well, there could be international-level reinforcements in the new season.

As the team is about to concentrate on winter training, Shenhua's winter training warm-up plan has also been further implemented. On January 24, 2024, Shenhua will play against the Riyadh Victory team of Cristiano Ronaldo, Brozovic, Fofana, Laporte, Talisca and other stars in Shenzhen, which is also Shenhua's first high-quality game of this winter training period.

After the match against Riyadh, the team will travel to Doha, Qatar, to participate in the "Equality Cup" international football invitational tournament played there. There are four teams participating in the tournament, including Shanghai Shenhua, Russia's Zenit, Brazil's Santos and Qatar's Duhail.

The tournament is played in a single round-robin format, with each team playing three games to determine the ranking based on the final points. Shenhua's three matches will be against hosts Qatar Al-Duhail on February 1, 2024, Brazil's Santos on February 4, and Russia's Zenit on February 8.

After the final battle, Shenhua will return to China immediately and is expected to return to Shanghai on February 9. It was the Chinese New Year's Eve, so the team would have a short Spring Festival holiday after returning home.

Before starting this wave of warm-up games, Shenhua will conduct the first phase of winter training in Haikou for the physical reserve period. Due to the relatively cold weather in Shanghai, it is not suitable for outdoor sports, so Shenhua arranged this stage in Haikou. After the team gathers on January 3, 2024, it will have two days of simple physical recovery training at the base, and fly to Haikou on January 5.

In addition, the time of the first official match of the 2024 season of Shenhua has also been confirmed, and the much-watched "Super Cup" between Shanghai Shenhua, the winner of the 2023 FA Cup, and Shanghai Port, the winner of the 2023 Chinese Super League, has been scheduled to be played on February 24, 2024.