Chinese league digest

Coach says Huang wants to stay

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors coach Lee Heung-sil said Chinese midfielder Huang Bowen was not eager to return to the Chinese league and wanted to stay with his South Korean club.

Huang, 25, won the domestic league title with Beijing Guo'an in 2009, and signed a two-year contract with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors last February. The team finished second in the AFC Champions League that same year.

However, Huang was reported to be close to a deal with Chinese club Guangzhou R&F.

Lu Yi, general manager of the Cantonese club told Chinese media the club's Brazilian coach, Sergio Farias, was interested in Huang and Nigerian striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu, who scored 17 goals for Blackburn Rovers to be the fourth most effective scorer in the English Premier League last season.

Lu said Huang would be a good supplier for Yakubu, and if R&F could seal a contract with the Nigerian, Huang would come soon.

However, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors coach Lee said Huang preferred to stay in the K-League.

"A lot of Chinese media reported that R&F coach Farias thinks high of Huang and has persuaded the club to bring in Huang with big money. But Huang's agent told me the Chinese player didn't have a strong will to go back to China, and wanted to stay with his team," Lee told South Korean media.

Lee said Guangzhou Evergrande had proposed talks of a possible transfer for Huang in May.

"Evergrande's former coach, Lee Jang-soo, called me about Huang's transfer. I told him, 'Your team has some players we want to buy, but our team has no player to sell'," he said.

Guangzhou R&F is still in talks with Yakubu and his English club, Blackburn.

Lu said R&F has set in place other plans in case it can't sign Yakubu or Huang.

Liaoning manager resigns

Liaoning Whowin deputy general manager Huang Zugang announced he was leaving the club on his Sina account on Sunday evening.

The 59-year-old had worked with the club in four stints from 1997. His most recent departure is apparently related to a conflict with some of the club's staff over match-ticket management.

The club is also believed to owe the players half of their salaries from last year.

It was reported that Liaoning made a deal last year with the players that they would receive half of their salary each month and would receive the rest at the end of the season if the team reached pre-set targets. The club finished third in the Chinese Super League last year, but the players still have not received any outstanding salaries thus far.

(China Daily 06/26/2012 page22)