Surviving the toughest May, how will Shenhua adjust during the break?

Special contributor/Gan Hui Facing Qingdao West Coast with a full set of five foreign players, Shenhua, fielding only a single foreigner, managed to fight back with goals from domestic players Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie, earning a hard-fought 2-2 draw away from home, thus concluding their grueling May campaign.

Head coach Slutsky expressed gratitude for his players' efforts and dedication after the match: "The final game before the break was as tough as ever. To take a point away from home, I must first thank all the players for their relentless effort and sacrifice on the pitch."

In terms of results alone, the entire May campaign was extremely poor. Shenhua, which had been competing at the championship level over the past two seasons, went 3 draws and 4 losses in seven league matches in May, failing to secure a single win and earning only three points—the lowest tally of any team in the Chinese Super League that month. In the 2024 season, Shenhua lost only one game over the entire year; in the 2025 season, they lost four. That means the number of defeats they suffered in May this year already equals the total number of losses they had in the entire 2025 season.

Just a month earlier, in April, Shenhua was in high spirits. Even after being deducted 10 points, they were still considered by outsiders as Chengdu Rongcheng's biggest rival for the title. At that time, Shenhua won all five league matches in April.

"The match against Chengdu Rongcheng in the first half of the season became our turning point. We played very well in that game, but we not only lost the match but also lost several key players. That dealt a heavy blow to us, forcing us to field only a single foreign player in many subsequent matches." As Slutsky said, that game was a double blow for Shenhua: they suffered their first defeat of the season, and then a second wave of injuries followed, with key players like Gai and Teixeira getting hurt one after another.

Starting from the away match against Yunnan Yukun, Shenhua has only been able to deploy one foreign player, Raton, in their last four league games. Raton's strength lies in seizing opportunities in front of goal, so without strong support, he has become isolated—one of the biggest challenges Shenhua faces when playing with a single foreigner.

With foreign midfielders and forwards sidelined by injury, central defender Zhu Chenjie has ironically become the team's top scorer. He scored three headed goals, helping the team to draws against Chongqing Tonglianglong and Qingdao West Coast, securing two points.

During the post-match press conference on the evening of May 30 against Qingdao West Coast, Slutsky summarized the team's first-half performance: "I think it's hard for any other team in the league to play with just one foreign player and still go toe-to-toe with opponents in every match like we did. The entire May process was painful, but it will certainly help and improve our players."

Due to their poor results in May, plus the 10-point deduction before the season started, Shenhua has fallen out of the top ten in the league standings, now only three points above Qingdao Hainiu, who are currently third from the bottom.

Fortunately, the Chinese Super League is now entering a nearly one-month break, giving Shenhua a valuable opportunity to rest and adjust. Unlike previous breaks when many players were called up for national team duty, this time only Zhu Chenjie from Shenhua was selected for the new national team training camp. Additionally, Yang Haoyu was called up to the U23 national team, and Chen Jinyi was summoned by the Hong Kong, China team. Although Wu Qipeng was on the U19 national team roster, he has confirmed his withdrawal due to injury.

Given the large number of injuries Shenhua suffered during the May campaign, rehabilitation of the injured players is undoubtedly the top priority during this break. Midfielder Teixeira suffered a muscle strain in the away match against Shandong Taishan on May 5. By the time of the first match after the break—June 28 against Dalian Yingbo—he will have had more than a month and a half to recover, which is usually enough time for him to return. The last time he suffered a similar strain, Teixeira took a month to recover. If Teixeira returns to fitness, Shenhua's offensive and defensive play in the midfield and forward lines will improve significantly.

As for Mineiro, he last played on March 21 in the away match against Beijing Guoan. From March 21 to June 28 is a full three months. Generally, a complete muscle tear or large-area tear that causes limb weakness requires three months or more to heal, but Mineiro's strain was not that severe.

Recently, Mineiro posted on his personal social media that he is training hard and striving to return as soon as possible: "I apologize to all Shenhua fans for not being able to help the team during this difficult time. I am training hard and will try to return as soon as possible to make up for lost time. Thank you for your messages, concern, and support. I will come back stronger."

While Teixeira and Mineiro's return depends on their recovery progress, Manafa's return date is already set in stone. In the next away match against Dalian Yingbo, Manafa will be available again after serving his suspension.

During the break, Shenhua can also strengthen their squad through the secondary summer transfer window. According to the schedule, the 2026 Chinese Super League summer transfer window opens on June 18 and runs until July 22. Although Gai, who suffered an Achilles tendon rupture, underwent successful surgery and is now undergoing rehabilitation at the Jiusheng Kangqiao Sports Base, he is unlikely to play this season due to the severity of the injury. If Shenhua wants to maintain a five-foreign-player setup, they could remove Gai from the roster and recall A Sué, who was loaned to Spanish Segunda División side Leganés at the start of the year. Shenhua loaned A Sué to Leganés until June 30, 2026. Therefore, in the second half of the season, Shenhua has a chance to field all five foreign players together. So far this season, due to injuries and suspensions, Shenhua has never had all five foreign players on the pitch at the same time.

Beyond foreign player adjustments, given the personnel crisis exposed in May, Shenhua also needs to further strengthen their bench depth. Of course, with the league in full swing, signing quality domestic players is often much more difficult than during the winter window, and sometimes a bit of luck is needed.