On the evening of July 15, Beijing time, the summer window of the Chinese Super League officially closed, and Shanghai Port officially announced the loan of new foreign player Willian Popp at the last moment, the Brazil striker became the sixth foreign player of the season for the port, and his signing also highlights the ambition of the port in this season's AFC Champions League.
It is understood that Willian Popp (Willian Popp) was born in 1994, 30 years old this year, although he is not tall, but he is extremely fast, he has previously played for many clubs in the Japanese and Korean leagues, and joined the Thai Super League Mengtong United Club in 2020, playing 97 games for the team, contributing 60 goals and 18 assists, and the output of the offensive end is quite efficient.
The registration of new foreign players at the seaport is in line with the policy of the Football Association
This season, under the leadership of the five foreign aids, the harbor has played well, and currently occupies the top of the standings with a 2-point advantage, especially on the offensive side, under the leadership of Wu Lei, Gustavo, Oscar and Vargas are full of firepower, and the current four have scored 21 goals, 13 goals, 10 goals and 8 goals respectively, Wu Lei has scored more goals than many Chinese Super League teams combined, in addition, Oscar has 12 assists, far ahead of the Super League assist list, Wu Lei's assists have also reached 5 times. The offensive combination of these four people can be described as the best in the Chinese Super League, even in the era of Jinyuan football, it may not be inferior to any giant team.
In this case, the outside world is concerned about what kind of "catfish effect" William Pope will cause, and relevant people from the harbor said that no players have left the team for the time being, and William Pope will also be used as an important tactical puzzle piece for the team to compete in the AFC Champions League.
In the official announcement of the harbor, it was also clearly stated: "I believe that the addition of William Pope will bring more choices to the team in the technical and tactical play of the AFC Champions League elite league in the future."
In the case of the excellent performance of the team's internal and external players, Harbour has brought in a sixth foreign player, which fully demonstrates the team's ambition in this season's AFC Champions League, which will adopt a new format and remove the appearance restriction of foreign players, which means that as long as they can complete the registration in their home league, participating clubs can use multiple foreign players to play.
Specific to the Chinese Super League, the 7-6-5 foreign aid policy adopted this season, in the two transfer windows, the number of foreign players that can be registered by each club does not exceed 7, and in one window, the number of foreign players that can be registered does not exceed 6, and the maximum number of foreign players who can register for each game is 5, and the maximum number of appearances is 5, which means that it is not illegal for Harbour to introduce Willem Pope as the sixth foreign player. Willian Pope can be used as a substitute for other foreign players in the Chinese Super League, and he will be able to play at the same time as other foreign players in the AFC Champions League.
Oscar will not leave the team until the end of the year
With the addition of William Pope, the outside world is more concerned about whether the team's captain Oscar will leave the team in the summer window, and the Harbour Club said that the Harbour team will retain the stability of the squad, go all out to attack the league championship, and strive to make a difference in the AFC Champions League, and no players will leave the team for the time being. This means that Oscar will stay until at least the end of the season, and as the captain of the team, Oscar will also lead the team to the best to defend the league title.
At present, the five major foreign aid of the harbor, Oscar and Vargas's contracts will expire at the end of this year, this season under the coaching of Muscat, both have played the best performance since joining the harbor, after the end of the season, how to adjust the foreign aid, is a topic of more concern to the outside world, Oscar's high-salary contract is currently far beyond the salary limit of the Chinese Super League, if you continue to stay in the team, you must accept a large salary cut, otherwise for the renewal of Oscar, the harbor can be said to be powerless. On this issue, it should be said that the initiative to renew the contract is in the hands of Oscar.
In recent years, with the addition of a number of big-name stars, Major League United States and the Saudi league have developed rapidly, so Oscar is not short of next home, and it was previously reported that Oscar is likely to go to Saudi Arabia or United States after ending his contract with Seaport. The Saudi league can offer the big contracts that Oscar needs, while United States, although not comparable to Saudi Arabia in terms of money, is closer to Brazil and easier to return home.
As for Vargas, it should be said that with the highlight performance of this season, it is possible to complete the contract extension with the club, but in the end, it will depend on the opinion of head coach Muscat. (Sohu Sports original Pei Li)