In a happy turn of events, the naturalization process of two rising soccer stars has quietly begun. One of them is Oscar, a foreigner who used to play for Cangzhou Lions in the Chinese Super League. As reported by Soccer Daily earlier, Oscar has gone to Africa to go through the procedure of changing his nationality. Now, he has returned to China and joined newcomers Yunnan Yukun. Oscar has met FIFA's criteria for naturalization of foreign players since he stepped into Chinese football in 2018. Another naturalized player is Changchun Yatai's foreigner Serginho, who has made his presence known to the national football team's head coach, Il.
Is this just the tip of the iceberg? There may be more. Indonesian media recently broke the news that our men's soccer team is planning to naturalize as many as five players. In addition to Oscar and Serginho, they include 25-year-old Manchester United shot-stopper Chen Dayi, Vancouver White Wave's Xiao Hai of the US Pro League, and Norwegian-born player Zheng Zeyan!
Of the trio, Chen Dayi is undoubtedly the center of attention. The Dutch starlet emerged from the Manchester United youth academy in the field position of striker and was valued at £10 million at his peak. He was a youthful player in the Premier League and is now 25 years old, the prime age of a professional player. If Chen Dayi can join the national soccer team, it will undoubtedly inject a strong momentum into the team. As for Wu Xiaohai and Zheng Zeyan, they should not be underestimated.
Oscar and Serginho's paths to naturalization are edging closer, so are the rumors of the next three players true? Let's wait and see.
