More than a year after leaving Rubin Leonid Slutsky was outside of football and was only active in the media. It seemed to many that the former head coach of the Russian national team no longer planned to return to coaching. But unexpectedly he resumed his career, choosing an exotic option – the Chinese Shanghai Shenhua. Read more about Slutsky’s new team and his chances for big victories in the material .
The Chinese Super League is no longer the same. This direction is still associated with big finances for many, and even about Slutsky they say that this was the main factor when choosing a new club. Chinese football was really awash in money just a few years ago, which was a consequence of government policy, or rather the bias of the head of the country, Xi Jinping. The government reduced income taxes for those companies that were willing to actively invest in the development of the number one sport, and they began to actively invest in local teams. The bulk of the funds went to the purchase of world-class stars, and Chinese clubs offered such figures that it was simply impossible to refuse. For the football community this looked like savagery, but for Chinese businessmen such expenses were pennies compared to the preferences they received.
What happened in the transfer market in China in the mid-2010s was very similar to what we saw last summer in Saudi Arabia. Big stars have come here before, but mostly at the end of their careers, but now a real wave began. In particular, in the winter of 2017, local clubs spent a crazy 392 million euros on strengthening – more than in any of the European top 5 leagues. At the same time, the league also updated the record for the most expensive purchase, which was the Brazilian Oscar, who moved from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG for 60 million. By the way, he beat the price tag of Hulk, whose sale to the same club six months earlier brought Zenit a crazy 56 million and became the most profitable in the history of the RPL.
Slutsky’s new club was not so wasteful in the “well-fed” years, but also pleased with major transactions. For example, in the summer of 2019, Shanghai Shenhua acquired Stefan El-Shaarawy from Roma for 16 million euros – this deal still ranks among the top ten largest in the Chinese championship. And the most “spending” year was 2016, when the club spent almost 50 million, including signing Freddy Guarin from Inter (13 million euros). At various times, the colors of Shanghai Shenhua were defended by Carlos Tevez, Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and many other slightly less famous football players.
The “golden” period of the Super League lasted only a few years, which was due to several factors. In particular, the bet on developing local players next to world-class stars did not materialize at all. Secondly, football was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, due to which corporations were forced to cut costs in sports areas. It got to the point that some clubs did not pay salaries for months, and Jiangsu Suning completely ceased to exist in February 2021, just a couple of months after winning the Super League. In addition, the championship has undergone several reforms – a limit on foreign players, the introduction of a salary cap, and so on. The clubs lost the desire and ability to throw money away, and the tournament said goodbye to its status as a “football Eldorado.” Today, of the stars of the recent past in China, only Oscar remains, still defending the colors of Shanghai SIPG (now Shanghai Port).
Following in the footsteps of Nepomniachtchi, Slutsky did not become the first Russian specialist to work at Shanghai Shenhua. In October 2004, the club invited Valery Nepomnyashchiy to the post of head coach, who during his career managed to practice on almost all continents. And he came to China for the third time – several years before that he had the opportunity to head Shenyang Haishi and Shandong Luneng. But it was at Shanghai Shenhua that the specialist achieved the best result, winning bronze medals in the 2005 season. Nevertheless, he himself always noted the lack of professionalism as the main disadvantage of local football players. According to him, the Chinese are more talented than the Koreans or Japanese, but precisely because of problems with discipline they will never reach the level of their neighbors.
“After working in China, I developed a formula for success for myself. The first step is to find a common language with the employer so that he understands how the coach wants to achieve high goals. Slutsky must meet with the club management more often than usual and explain to him that or another step. And when they look in one direction, then any failure will be perceived with understanding by the head of the club. The second is to find mutual understanding with the local coach from his headquarters. Because it is easier to find good contact with the players through an assistant, because the players do not really accept communication through an interpreter. And when you know their response, it’s easier for you to correct this or that action,” Nepomnyashchy gave this advice to Slutsky in a comment for .
In general, Shanhai Shenhua often turned to foreign coaches, including eminent ones. In particular, in recent years Gustavo Poyet, Quique Sanchez Flores, and Sergio Batista have worked with the team. But the biggest mark in the history of the club was left by a local specialist, Wu Jingui, who was replaced by Slutsky. He first took charge of Shanghai Shenhua back in July 2002 and has since returned to the club four times as head coach and also served as technical director. Last season, he managed to finish fifth in the Chinese Championship and win the National Cup – the sixth in the team's history. But management decided not to renew the contract, which was expiring at the end of the year, and again relied on a foreigner.
Slutsky will train the Cameroonian, whom Semin wanted. The Russian specialist got a good squad by today's Chinese standards. In terms of value (€10.3 million), Shanghai Shenhua ranks third in the Super League, behind only Zhejiang Greentown (€10.5 million) and Shanghai Port (€16.3 million). We also note that Slutsky will have one of the youngest teams in the championship – the average age is only 25.4 years, and this is the second figure in the league. The former coach of the Russian national team has five foreign players: Swiss Cephas Malele, Portuguese João Carlos Teixeira, Frenchman Ibrahim Amadou, American Macario Hing-Glover and Cameroonian Christian Bassogog.
The latter is well known to Russian fans, since at one time he was actively wooed to the capital's Lokomotiv. In 2017, Bassogog made a splash at Cameroon's African Cup victory, becoming the tournament's best player, after which the real hunt began for him. But the young striker made an unconventional decision, chasing Chinese money, and signed a contract with Henan Jianye. There he showed good statistics – 26 goals and 19 assists in 85 matches, which allowed him to maintain interest in the transfer market. He was also closely watched by Lokomotiv and personally by Yuri Semin, who had been following the forward since his time in Denmark. But the Chinese club refused the Muscovites' offer – Bassogog was a key player.
“We had a list of eight strikers. This included, in particular, Oumar Niass, Matej Vydra and Eran Zahavi. These players could strengthen the team. But the role of the head coach is high: not a single transfer decision was made or is being made without him. Yuri Pavlovich said that no one from this list was needed and asked to take another player. We are talking about Bassogog. Our efforts, like the efforts of the head coach, were unsuccessful: on the last day of the transfer window we received a letter from the Chinese club that the transfer would not take place.” , – said the then president of Lokomotiv Vasily Kiknadze in an interview with Championship.
As a result, Bassogog, who turned 28 this October, played in Henan Jianye for four years, after which he moved to Shanghai Shenhua as a free agent. . True, it is possible that Slutsky will not be able to work with him. According to the Transfermarkt portal, the Cameroonian's contract expires on December 31, 2023, and so far there has been no news about an extension.
It is also worth noting that Slutsky has several representatives of the Chinese national team on his team. On January 12, the Asian Cup starts in Qatar, to which four Shanhai Shenhua players have been called up, including the most experienced 34-year-old Wu Xi, who has 87 matches for the national team.
Slutsky is expected to win a title and have a successful performance in the Championship. Jingui left the Russian a good legacy. As already mentioned, the team finished fifth in the championship and also won the National Cup. At the same time, this obliges Slutsky to at least keep the bar, and Nepomniachtchi believes that he will be required to become first in the Super League.
By the way, Shanghai Shenhua won the championship only four times. The club became the best twice in the 1960s, took the title in 1995, and won the last trophy in 2003. True, in that case there was a scandal that cost the team the championship. Shanghai Shenhua was one point ahead of its neighbors from Shanghai International, but then it turned out that the club's management paid bribes to the judges to achieve the desired result. In particular, the referees helped the team for money in a match with its main competitor (4:1), which largely determined the outcome of the championship race. At first, only individuals caught in corruption were held accountable, but in 2013 the local federation nevertheless decided to take away the title from Shanghai Shenhua.
Also, thanks to the victory in the Cup of China, Slutsky’s team will be able to compete in the local Champions League for the tenth time. At the same time, she, along with Shanghai Port, gets directly into the group stage, which starts in September 2024. By the way, the Russian specialist’s contract is for one season, so the playoffs, if the team makes it there, may take place without him. Note that before this, Shanghai Shenhua played in the group stage eight times, but was able to advance further only in the 2005/06 season, then the team reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to the Korean Jeonbuk (1:0, 2:4).
In February, Slutsky will be tested by Zenit. The Russian specialist still has a couple of months before his official debut – the championship starts in March. This time will be enough to get to know the team, adapt to new conditions and instill in the team your vision. And we will see Slutsky’s first achievements in February, when his team will take part in a friendly tournament in Qatar. The local “Al-Duhail”, the Brazilian “Santos”, as well as our “Zenith” will play there together. The meeting with St. Petersburg residents on February 8 after the appointment of a specialist acquired additional intrigue.
It is very interesting what style Slutsky will choose. As Chinese media reported, one of the main reasons for the separation from his predecessor was overly defensive football. On the one hand, the team achieved good results in the Super League, but at the same time scored only 34 goals in 30 rounds, finishing only in fifth place from the bottom. So in the victorious Cup of China, both decisive matches were won with a minimal score. So they will demand from Slutsky not only results, but also spectacular football.
In any case, the Russian can only be praised for having decided to take on such a challenge. In a sense, he does not lose anything, but only gains good experience. Moreover, there is no point in putting an end to his career, since many of his predecessors later managed to find excellent employment in Europe. The same Gustavo Poyet is now working with the Greek national team, and Quique Sanchez Flores recently took charge of Sevilla. And certainly now interest in the Super League in Russia will increase, and, perhaps, someone else will be inspired by the example of Slutsky, including football players.
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