Shenhua made an important decision before the game against Guoan, and it was officially announced as soon as possible. Shenhua FC confirmed that the core Manafa has been affected by injuries and will not be able to play in the game against Guoan. At the same time, in order to give Manafa better conditions for medical recovery. Shenhua agreed to Manafa's request to leave the team and return to Portugal for surgery, while Manafa said he would return to the team at the end of August.
Manafa is an important reinforcement for Shenhua's right-back position, a position where the team has not been able to find a suitable person to reinforce. Last season, Shenhua put hope on Chinese player Yan Xinli and gave him a main position. Yan Xinli once played as a starter in the European League, and Shenhua felt that his ability to cope with the Chinese Super League should not be a big problem. As a result, after Yan Xinli joined Shenhua, he did not show a convincing performance.
It was Yan Xinli's poor performance in Shenhua that prevented him from staying. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Shenhua decided to introduce Manafa, who has proven himself in the five major leagues. As it turned out, Shenhua's introduction of Manafa was the right choice. After Manafa joined Shenhua, he had a strong performance. Whenever Shenhua was in a stalemate on the right, Manafa always stepped up.
Therefore, Manafa became the core of Shenhua's right side. However, the biggest problem with this flying wing is that his body is a little brittle. Previously, Manafa was affected by injuries and he missed many games for Shenhua. For this reason, Shenhua coach Slutsky had to use veteran Wu Xi to play the starting right-back. Slutsky finally waited for Manafa to return, but as soon as the foreign player regained his form, he was injured again.
Fortunately, Manafar's injury is not as serious as expected, and there is a high probability that he will be back in September. If all goes well, Manafa is expected to return in time for the AFC Champions League to help Shenhua achieve good results in Asia. Shenhua has always performed poorly in the AFC Champions League, and the club will need to rely on foreign aid led by Manafa to achieve ideal results in the future.