With the end of the year approaching, Shandong Taishan have not made an offer to extend the contract of Xiao De, a naturalized player who has been on the roster for five years and had a chance to take up a non-blood naturalization slot next year, while Beijing Guoan have already launched a naturalization program for Serginho and former Cangzhou Lions foreign aid player Oscar is also on the list of naturalized players. so Shandong Taishan are hesitant to extend the contract of Xiao De, who after all, has other naturalization options available to the team, and Delgado will need to wait for a change of status to complete before he stays, but there are no shortages of potential hosts in the Chinese super market for this naturalized player.
Fernando's career with Shandong Taishan has come to an end, as he has decided not to renew his contract and is more likely to return to Shenhua, while Pato is in a similar position, with Shandong Taishan also not committing to a contract extension, with the starting trio of Wako, Cressan and Zeca now firmly in place, and the team is no longer looking to sign a new winger, not even if Leonardo returns on loan, and Cressan has resumed training and is expected to make his first appearance of the tournament with the AFC Cup final looming, and it will be a matter of time before Gao Junyi makes a return to the side.
Shandong Taishan have made it to the FA Cup final for the second consecutive season, with Wu Jingui realizing his dream of winning the cup last year under the leadership of Cui, but this year it will be a battle of two footballing philosophies against the more tactically versatile Muscat, who may not be able to make it to the final, but the attacking trio of Oscar, Vargas, and Gustavo will still be reliable, and on paper Taishan may be inferior, but with Cui's tactical experience, he has the ability to win the game against the weak, and we can borrow some of the tactics of the AFC Champions League in an attempt to avoid a second consecutive year of failure to win the competition.
