SIPG unlikely to sign new foreign stars in summer
Print Edition
SHANGHAI SIPG club general manager is happy with the team’s foreign-player contingent and says that there will likely be no adjustment in that area during the Chinese Super League’s summer transfer window.
After a 4-2 victory over FC Seoul at Shanghai Stadium on Wednesday night, Andre Villas-Boas’ team secured a spot in the 2017 AFC Champions League last 16 with a match to spare. The team is also joint second in the 16-team CSL standings with 13 points from six matches.
“Winning the Asian title is also our goal, since the club is striving for at least one title from the three battlefronts (of CSL, AFC Champions League and China FA Cup),” club general manager Sui Guoyang told reporters yesterday.
“We have already advanced (from the group), and hope to do better than last year (when SIPG reached the quarterfinals, losing to K League side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors).”
With the China FA Cup kicking off next month, SIPG, battling on three fronts, has eight matches scheduled for May.
“We will not give up any of the three battlefronts,” said Sui, praising the club’s Portuguese head coach Villas-Boas.
SIPG’s smooth run in both the CSL and the ACL is down to its Brazilian trio of Hulk, Oscar and Elkeson, as well as Uzbekistan midfielder Odil Ahmedov — especially Hulk, who has scored seven goals in 10 matches.
The club has been “hiding” another veteran foreigner in its enviable squad — Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho. Due to foreign player limitations, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid defender is yet to make his debut for the club.
“Carvalho had a high appearance rate in French Ligue 1 last year at the age of 38. We will make full use of his experience once he is called to play. The season is long and unpredictable but we have a rich reserve of foreign players,” said Sui, adding that the club would make no adjustment to its foreign players in the summer. “Among the five we have, only three can play. The other two are somehow wasted since either is good enough to be a starter for any CSL club.”
Sui also confirmed that a new stadium in Pudong will replace Shanghai Stadium as SIPG’s home ground. Construction for the stadium, said to be located near Jinxiou Road E, will kick off soon.
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