Despite failing to help Shandong Taishan defend their Chinese Super League title, Choi Kang-hee has revolutionized the team since he took over. He has proved his coaching prowess by turning a team that was once languishing at the bottom of the league into runners-up, earning him wide acclaim from the domestic media and fans. Looking ahead, Shandong Taishan are going all out to prepare for the AFC Cup final, and if they can beat Shanghai Shenhua to win the cup, they will not only end the season as champions, but also lock up a direct ticket to the AFC Champions League next season.
As the dust settles from the Chinese Super League, some players have joined the national team to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers, while most players are in vacation mode. The management of each team has been keeping a close eye on their favorite players in order to strengthen the team in the off-season. Shandong Taishan is expected to be the first to complete the reinforcement in the off-season. Recently, it was revealed by the media that Shandong Taishan and Cui Kangxi signed a two-year contract extension with a total salary of 60 million RMB. If this news is true, Cui Kangxi will surpass become the highest paid coach in the history of the Chinese Super League. In the era of gold dollar soccer at the end of the occasion, Shandong Taishan is still willing to Cui Kangxi to open such a generous contract extension, fully reflecting the ability of the coach's trust.
Recently, domestic media broke the news that if the national football team does not perform well in the World Cup qualifiers, the CFA may invite Cui Kangxi to replace Yang Kovic as the new coach of the national team. However, before Shandong Taishan prepared for the AFC Champions League group stage, Choi Kang-hee clarified the rumors of coaching the national team at a conference, indicating that he intended to work with Shandong Taishan for a long time, not the national team. In order to retain the legendary Korean coach, the club will naturally offer a generous annual salary. With Shandong Taishan's first signing of the offseason about to be revealed, fans have reason to expect that the team will make a comeback next season under Cui Kangxi's leadership and challenge for the Chinese Super League title once again. Shandong Taishan will continue to invest more and bring in key players according to the strategic planning of Cui Kangxi's team to lay a solid foundation for winning the title. At the same time, Luneng football school to train young talent will also get more opportunities to play, these young players carry the future of the national football, Cui Kangxi to help the progress of Chinese soccer.
