Reporter Han Bing reported that "Duan Liu Yu will join La Liga team Granada" - such news has become a hot topic after the end of the first stage of the Chinese Super League.
In fact, similar news of Chinese players joining Granada is common in the 5 years since Jiang Lizhang acquired this La Liga club: Wei Shihao passed on the scandal two years ago and finally failed; Granada did sign 3 Chinese young players such as Wang Zixiang and Li Tenglong, but they were only arranged to exercise in the echelon, and never entered the first team, let alone competed in La Liga.
News of Duan Liuyu joining Granada circulated almost exclusively among the Chinese media, with the mainstream Spanish sports media "Marca", "AS" newspaper, "World Sports" newspaper and "Daily Sports" newspaper not reported. Even in the local media, the recent mention of Chinese football news, only Malaga club is interested in signing Dalian's foreign aid Longdong, and there are no rumors of any Chinese players joining Granada.
Granada still invested more than 20 million euros in the market last summer after being hit hard by the pandemic, bringing in as many as 11 players, but this summer Real Madrid centre-back Vallejo, Atletico Madrid centre-back Neun Perez, Chelsea left wing-back Kennedy and Watford midfielder Quina all left the squad on loan. The team's high-priced goalscorer L. Suarez, midfielder Mira failed to play a worthy performance, but the 36-year-old striker Soldado and the 39-year-old Molina occupy the top two places in the team's top two goalscorers list, and are the first contributors to Granada's successful relegation and entry into the first half of the zone.
This summer, Granada lost centre-forward Soldado, attacking midfielder Bico and goalkeeper Rui Silva, currently bringing in four players, namely Portuguese sports goalkeeper Maximiano, 34-year-old Colombian centre-forward Barca, 21-year-old Barça youngster Moncuo and Peruvian centre-back Abram, all of whom are free-to-play players.
Granada still want to continue on loan with Chelsea winger John F. Kennedy, as well as free-agent former Levante right winger Rocchina, and Barca B right winger Koyado, with more attention focused on reinforcing the attacking end and the wing. If all three can join Granada, the Pomegranates' midfield will be particularly competitive. Last season's wingers Puertas, Matisse, Solo and Suarez, who was forced to move to the wing, are all there, and if Kennedy, Rochina and Kojado are added, seven players will compete in the left and right positions. With the exception of the less senior soro, everyone else is an experienced and efficient La Liga player who is not bad in front of goal.
Duan Liu Yu played mainly in the offensive midfield of Taishan, Shandong, mainly in the middle and right. In Granada's 433 system without an attacking midfielder, it was difficult for him to get a chance in midfield. Whether it is Gonalons, Montolo or Mira, they are all experienced players in La Liga, and this is not counting the strong Cameroon midfielder Etki, the Nigerian midfielder Azez and the newly joined former Barca B captain Monchu. Granada has completed almost every tactical position in the offensive trident and midfield, leaving little room for Duan Liuyu. Moreover, Granada is even laying off employees, at least 3 players will leave the team, Antonin has been loaned, and even Azez, Etki and Gonalons may leave the team with suitable offers, let alone continue to bring in reinforcements.
Although Granada is a Chinese-funded club, since Jiang Lizhang's double-edged sword company took over in the summer of 2016, the club has only arranged for Chinese young players to train in the echelon, and has never signed Chinese players in the first team. Granada's reinforcement network, in addition to Spain, is basically concentrated in the hands of the Pozzo family, which originally owned the club, the latter resources are mainly in South America, Portugal, the club has limited financial resources, most of the players are free to sign. In order to gain a foothold in such an almost completely Latinized club, Duan LiuYu needs not only his own strength, but also the support behind it.
It is worth mentioning that Jiang Lizhang has been chased by the Spanish tax authorities for 2.35 million euros in arrears in taxes. But he is currently in a "missing" state and is also on Spain's list of "untrustworthy people". The club's ownership in Granada also quietly changed in September last year, the company is controlled by Barcelona's Daxian 2009 SL company, jiang Lizhang is still a director of the company but has actually lost control of Granada. Jiang Lizhang said at the beginning of the year that he would return to Spain in the spring to try to regain control of the club, but at present he has not only not returned, but still only has the title of honorary chairman of the club.
Granada's background is obviously unable to compare with the Spaniards who are fully controlled by Chen Yansheng, and the difficulty of Duan Liuyu's transfer can be imagined.
Granada's official social platform, there are not many fans, only a few hundred thousand, and daily comments are between single digits and ten digits. Most of the club's updates are mainly based on training, games and reinforcements, and the discussion of reinforcements by fans is almost always focused on local and South American players, as well as Kennedy, Rochina, Koyado and Li Gangren, who have recently spread rumors, and there is almost no discussion about the so-called reinforcements from China. Maximiano, the club's only goalkeeper to spend money signing this summer, has only a few dozen comments under the official announcement of the official social platform.
The so-called "Granada fans strongly oppose the introduction of Chinese players by the club" is actually only a very small number of Granada fans talking privately about the possibility of Duan Liuyu joining the team in Chinese self-media, and then evolving into the news of "export to domestic sales".
All in all, Granada's signings this summer are largely over, with less than two weeks to go before the transfer window. Even if Duan Liu Yu has the opportunity to join, it is difficult to enter Granada without the help of real money and silver.
At present, Duan Liuyu said that he was not aware of this matter, and the Taishan Club had not yet expressed its position.
It must be said that although this is part of the Chinese Football Association's plan to stay in the West, it cannot completely ignore the position and interests of Shandong Taishan Club.
At the end of the first stage of the league, Shandong Taishan ranked first in the standings with 10 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss and 33 points, and this year can be said to be the best time for Shandong Taishan to win the championship in recent years. This season, the team has only three U23 players, namely Guo Tianyu, Duan Liuyu and Tian Xin, of which Tian Xin has only two substitutes. Under the intensive schedule, Taishan almost relied on the rotation of two U23 players, Guo Tianyu and Duan Liuyu, to survive this stage.
And the Schedule in December is also quite dense, if only Guo Tianyu is retained as a U23 player in the team, even if there is always good form, it is impossible to play all the games, not to mention that Guo Tianyu has gone to the national team to report, the possibility of participating in the round of 12 is very large, and it is difficult to guarantee the state after playing for the country. In this case, Duan Liuyu's stay is very important.
If it is necessary to send people out to stay in the West, what the Chinese Football Association needs to consider is that if the U23 players sent out, should they reduce the U23 players of their original clubs on an equal footing? In the absence of relevant policies, sending one of the two core U23 players away is likely to have a great impact on the prospects of Taishan Club's championship, is this also irresponsible to the club?