Dalian Professional Football Club (Chinese: 大连人职业足球俱乐部; pinyin: Dàlián Rén Zhíyè Zúqiú Jùlèbù; lit.

The club was refounded on September 20, 2009, by Dalian Aerbin Group Company, Ltd., and started from the third tier of the Chinese football pyramid, China League Two.

midfielder Seydou Keita, who departed the Spanish team on a free transfer and helped ensure Dalian Aerbin remained within the league.

by taking on responsibility of their 330 million RMB debt after Dalian Shide's chairman Xu Ming was arrested for bribing and corruption.

[8] In the hope of bringing in a harmonious merger of the two teams, former Dalian Shide manager Xu Hong was brought in for the start of the 2013 Chinese Super League.

[10] This incident caused Aerbin to face some serious financial problems, being unable to pay the salaries, bonuses, or even maintenance of the stadium.

With Dalian Aerbin back in the China League One division and with the loss of revenue generated from being in the top tier, the club could not afford to maintain their squad, which saw a mass exodus of players.

[12] Mikael Stahre was hired as the head coach at the start of the 2015 league campaign and looked to be pushing for promotion, which saw Dalian Yifang Group Co. Ltd on 8 July 2015, buy majority shares within the club.

[14] The club failed to win promotion back into the top tier after finishing third place at the end of the 2015 season and officially changed their name to Dalian Yifang F.C.

[15] On 10 July 2015, in a press conference to confirm the Yifang Group's investment, the general manager, Shi Xueqing (石雪清), admitted that the club was still losing money.

[16] In the 2017 China League One season, Dalian Yifang won the division title and promotion back into the top tier under head coach Juan Ramón López Caro.

In July 2019, Dalian Pro ended contract with Choi, while Rafael Benítez was introduced to the team, that he "was impressed by chairman Wang's passion and future plan on football".

Past debts and operating costs of the first team, youth training facilities, and projects for the next three years would still be covered by Wanda Group.