China Super League, China League A cancel the original reserve team to allow “idle” players to flow
Training newcomers Football Association launches U21 league
Recently, the Chinese Football Association issued a supplementary notice of the “Professional League Club Access Rules” to domestic professional league clubs at all levels. Compared with the standards of previous seasons, the new version of the rules introduced in the 2021 season is particularly interesting-the setting of the reserve team will no longer be included in the entry standards of the Super League and the Chinese Premier League, and replaced by the “U21 echelon setting” . The Chinese Football Association will also launch a brand-new club U21 league to explore and train young elite players.
New changes
The club adds U21 echelon and cancels the original reserve team
By convention, the Chinese Football Association closes the winter transfer window of the season on the last day of February each year, and that day is often the deadline for professional clubs at all levels to complete the new season registration. This means that the association must clarify all types of access standards for the new season to clubs at all levels. Compared with the “de-corporate club name”, other rules of the access standard may be more important for clubs and may be more complicated to implement.
For example, “the establishment of echelon systems at all levels” is one of the access conditions that clubs at all levels must strictly implement. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned on the 22nd that after the Chinese Football Association issued the “Access Standards” notice to clubs at all levels in January this year, and after the Spring Festival holiday, it issued a supplementary notice. The organizational issues of professional league echelon. In addition to requiring clubs at all levels to set up echelons at all levels in accordance with established standards, the notice also clearly requires that the Chinese Super League and Chinese Clubs add U21 echelons and cancel the original reserve teams.
Cooperate with the transfer
The Chinese Super League club introduces U21 players without quota restrictions
Because before that, the preparatory group of the professional league, after communicating with the Chinese Football Association and clubs at all levels, confirmed to further liberalize the transfer quotas for local players in the three-level professional leagues. Among them, the introduction of local ordinary players in the Chinese League and Chinese League 2 is not limited in the new season. Therefore, the launch of the new Chinese Super League, the Chinese League U21 League and the requirement for two-level clubs to add U21 echelons are actually corresponding measures in line with the new local player transfer policy. The original intention is to revitalize the domestic club talent market at all levels and avoid too many talents, especially Young talents have been abandoned in the “reserve team”.
As previously reported by the Beijing Youth Daily, each club in the Chinese Super League in the new season can transfer up to 8 domestic players with no age restriction during the opening of the two transfer windows, which is 3 more than the 5 players in the previous season. The transfer of domestic players from each club of China League A and China League B is not subject to quota restrictions.
In addition, the introduction of U21 domestic players by Chinese Super League clubs is also not subject to quota restrictions, and the total number of registrations in a single season for professional clubs at all levels has also increased. For example, the total number of single-season registrations for the first team of the Chinese Super League has increased from 30 to 35.
Talent pool
Give “idle” players a chance to be the main force
The Chinese Football Association further liberalizes the number of transfers of local players in professional leagues at all levels, and the flow of the transfer market requires a sufficient talent pool as a prerequisite. The Chinese Football Association requires the Chinese Super League and Chinese Football Club to replace the original reserve team with the U21 echelon to meet this condition. Relevant sources explained that in the past season, in order to cooperate with the talent reserves of various clubs, the Chinese Football Association specially launched a reserve team league. While training talents, it also created favorable conditions for the first team to deal with unexpected situations such as personnel injuries. But from the actual situation, the overall level of competition in the reserve league is average, and because the competitions are often scheduled to be held the next day in the professional leagues at all levels, it actually brings a certain burden to the clubs.
Another important reality that needs to be faced is that, except for a few players who can get a limited chance to play on the first team, most of the players who are in the reserve team are veritable “reserve players.” Because some of the main players of the first team who have returned from injury need to pass the reserve. The league adjustment status of the team has further squeezed the actual combat space of those standing reserve players. Most of these players are over 21 years old and under 25 years old. They are in their prime time. Even if they do not have the ability to be the main force and substitute in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League, they have the ability to sink to a relatively low-level league. strength. The Chinese Football Association does not limit the quotas for the introduction of local players from China A and China B this season. This is actually to allow more “idle” players in high-level clubs, especially players aged 21 to 25, to move to the middle and low levels. The club allows them to find space to display their talents.
The intention of the Chinese Football Association to add the Chinese Super League and the Chinese Football Club U21 League is clearer. On the one hand, this move is conducive to training young players for clubs at all levels; on the other hand, the age setting of the U21 league is purer and the competition is more fair.
As of now, the start plan for the new season of professional leagues at all levels has not been finalized. Therefore, what kind of competition system and how to plan the schedule for the newly launched U21 league are still subject to further negotiation by all parties.
Text/Reporter Xiao Geng Coordinating/Du Rui
– .
