[2] The team was close to Leonardo Jardim[3] and he eventually refused the contract[4] due to multiple concerns.
Yifang reached agreement with Korean manager Choi Kang-hee, and officially announced it on 11 February.
Gaitán decided to leave for MSL club Chicago Fire since the team preferred a winger/striker with more offensive playing style than another midfielder upon the signing of Marek Hamšík.
[9] Zheng Long joined on a one-year loan, while Alex Akande was signed as soon as Yanbian FC claimed their bankruptcy by the end of the transfer window.
Hamšík met with former teammate Paolo Cannavaro, who currently sided with his brother Fabio as Guangzhou's coaching staff.
Mushekwi's equalizer could not bring a victory, as the goalkeeper bumped into Zhao Mingjian's back clumsily, giving Johnathan a wide open goal.
He lacked dribbling and sprinting, which led to easy interceptions, and his long passes lost accuracy in this match.
He was frequently compared to Nico Gaitán, whose impressive dribbling tricks made many contributions on both ends.
[14] Carrasco scored another reflection shot against Chongqing, but the home win slipped away as Zhao Mingjian committed a handball for a penalty.
Yifang's conservative 5-defender formation was unable to hold against the opponent, while Boateng had his first goal in a corner kick.
[16] Yifang saw the first home win in the FA cup against Shaanxi, with Zhu Ting scoring the only goal in his 100th appearance for the team, to advance into the 5th round.
Carrasco did not return to the match against Hebei CFFC due to flight delay, and Yifang lost by 1 goal.
Mushekwi received a red card for pushing Zhang Chengdong in the face, and he missed several matches for the 2019 AFCON cup as planned.
He missed the match against Shanghai SIPG due to 4 yellow cards, and flew back to Europe for the June FIFA calendar ahead of time.
On 20 June, the whole issue outbroke, as goalkeeper Yu Ziqian publicly criticized on his social media that Carrasco went on a strike during the training session, that he "stood still regardless of anyone", and that he "skipped the previous two matches on purpose".
[23][24] No further actions including apologies were taken until the 23 June match,[25] but Carrasco showed dissatisfaction on his social media account.
[26] The entire issue seemed to have come to an end since Benítez's arrival, as Carrasco showed quite different competing desire, that "It's the first time I've had a good coach since I was in China".
[29][30] He said the career in China would be a challenge, and he was impressed by chairman Wang's passion and future plan on football,[31] and made the decision after consulting Juan Caro and Gregorio Manzano.
As the CSL summer window reached its closing date, Shan Huanhuan and 3 other young players under the Wanda "Star of Hope" project[33][34] were confirmed to join the squad.
[35] Boateng pulled his muscle, and Rondón's decisive substitution performance won a 3-pointer from Chongqing under hot climate.
The quick reunion with former coach Choi Kang-hee was not pleasant, as he overpowered his former team by two easy counter-attack goals from El Shaarawy.
The league would meet a few long pauses to prepare for the 2022 World Cup qualification, and the team's condition was influenced by the extra-long break.
Yifang struggled in Wuhan's high humidity and temperature with insufficient fitness, and lost by 1 goal.
won by 1–0 against Donghua University in the play-off, ranked by 5th, and gained promotion into the Chinese Women's Football League.
The team had overall equalized performance in home and away matches, band ut with Choi, Yifang acquired three away wins out the total of four at the time.
He often used Carrasco as a roaming attacker, not restrained to his familiar left winger position, and spent quite some time to adjust Hamšík's role.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.