The summer transfer window is in full swing once again after a season which was cut short due to the fifth wave of the pandemic. Although the transfer window does not officially open until 19 July, several big-name players have already moved within the league.
This summer’s window promises to be more active than usual as ten teams will contest the Premier League for the first time in three years after Tai Po and Sham Shui Po confirmed their participation. The two district teams have each admitted that they only expect to retain half of their squads as players who have full-time jobs cannot afford to quit their jobs in order join their respective teams in the top flight.
Eastern and Resources Capital are expected to cut their budgets due to the former’s desire to give their academy products opportunities and the latter due to financial constraints. However, Eastern have qualified for the AFC Cup’s knockout phase and it remains unknown whether they will make an effort to bolster their squad with some experienced players in order to chase continental glory.
Southern, Rangers, HKFC, and HKU23 are not expected to spend more than a modest amount and, with the exception of the latter, the core of their squads already appear to be in place.
Money is tight as the Hong Kong economy is still recovering from the pandemic. The only clubs who are spending any significant money these days are Kitchee and Lee Man, who have both poached players off of title rivals Eastern already this summer.
Offside will aggregate all of the transfer news and rumours this summer until the close of the window on 10 October.
The choice is yours: Check the top of the page for the latest updates or scroll down to the bottom for a comprehensive list of confirmed signings for each club.
13 October: Sham Shui Po have announced they have added two new players before the close of the window. The first is goalkeeper Aleks Shliakotin, who played on the weekend and who arrives from Rangers on a permanent transfer.
The second is Stefan Antonić, the son of former South China coach Dejan Antonić. The 21-year-old has been out of football since leaving Southern a year ago. Although he went on trial with several clubs in Indonesia, he remained unsigned until joining Sham Shui Po, who recently hired Kenneth Kwok as head coach.
7 October: Eastern have a new #10! Taiwan international Emilio Estevez has signed with the club after being unattached for the past 14 months. The attacking midfielder received his first professional contract in 2019 after impressing Canadian Premier League club York9 (now York United) on trial. A year and a half later, he was purchased for an initial fee of around HKD $570,000 by Dutch side ADO Den Haag, who at the time were under Chinese ownership.
Perhaps he was purchased for his talent or perhaps he was purchased because of his nationality, but regardless of the reasons, he never came close to living up to expectations at Den Haag. Estevez failed to break into the first team and was released seven months later. The 24-year-old later signed with a Spanish fourth tier club but left the club in July 2021 and had remained unattached until today.
3 October: Months after singing their first ever Central Asian player in Ruslan Mingazov, Kitchee have signed a second in Kyrgzstan international Bekzhan Sagynbayev. The 28-year-old had previously spent the majority of his career with Dordoi, where he won two Kyrgyz Premier League titles. It was also at Dordoi where Sagynbaev, who can as an attacking player or a defensive player on the left side, made his breakthrough into the Kyrgyzstan national team in 2018.
Sagynbaev speaks very limited English and is currently reliant on Mingazov to provide translation in Russian, a mutual language of the two players.
Kitchee have also signed right sided winger Maddox Kong after a successful trial. The Togoese-Hong Konger spent the previous season at Southern but declined a contract renewal with the Aberdeeners.
28 September: Opa! Kitchee have signed Greek striker Michalis Manias from Cypriot club Olympiakos Nicosia. The 32-year-old has mostly been used a bench player by his previous three clubs, will likely come to Hong Kong as a rotational player for Kitchee when the club needs to rest Dejan Damjanovic. Manias enjoyed his best season in 2017-18 when he scored 12 goals for Asteras Tripolis in the Greek Super League.
23 September: Kitchee have promoted three academy players to the first team. Defender Kam Chi-kin and wingers Tsang Chun-hin and Dai Tsz-hin have signed professional contracts with the club after impressing head coach Alex Chu with their performances in the Youth Super League. Kam, who is 1.91 m, joined the academy in 2011 when he was only 7 years of age, while Tsang and Dai joined in 2017 and 2021 respectively.
Of note, Kam has been capped by the Hong Kong U16s while Dai has previously been called up to train with the Hong Kong U19s.
15 September: You thought the transfer window was closed? Oh, you summer child! Although most squads have been assembled and matches have been played, there’s still time for clubs to add players before the close of the window.
On that front, Rangers have signed Turkish winger Kaan Gül to a contract. Gül was referred to the club by former Hong Kong assistant coach Anilton, who recently retired from coaching, and impressed management after a successful trial. The winger, who plays on the left, has been out of contract since June 2021 after leaving Eskisehirspor, a club in the Turkish fourth division.
Gül was born in Germany, a country with as many as 7 million people of Turkish descent, according to some estimates. The 28-year-old played exclusively in the German lower divisions before making the move to Eskisehirspor in 2019.
2 September: Sham Shui Po have signed Monglian right back Oyuntuya Oyunbold. The move is a quite surprising given that there is not a lot of information on the 20-year-old. The player previously played for Mongolian National Premier League club SP Falcons and made a substitute appearances for his country during June’s Asian Cup qualifiers where he played a minute of action.
27 August: After his side drew 0-0 against Tai Po, Eastern head coach Roberto Losada confirmed that Alex Jojo had re-signed with the club and will meet up with the team in Uzbekistan ahead of their AFC Cup clash with Sogdiana. The 23-year-old had previous been named as one of the depatures with the club and, in fact, went on trial with several Chinese Super League clubs. He later left the country due to family matters and was presumed to have been unattached.
However, a source tells Offside that the fullback, who can play on either side, put pen to paper on a new contract prior to the AFC Cup group stage. Jojo’s intentions to go on trial were known to the club – hence the announcement of his departure – but the contract was signed as insurance for both club and player. The fullback joined Eastern from Happy Valley in 2020 and has made 15 appearances for the club.
21 August: A busy day for Eastern as they have both signed and sold a player today. Right back Yue Tsz-nam, who put in some solid performances for Hong Kong during the team’s successful qualification for the Asian Cup in June, was invited by Chinese Super League club Meizhou Hakka earlier this month to trial. The club are no strangers to Hong Kong football, having signed players such as Lee Chi-ho, Leung Nok-hang and Vas Nuñez in the past. They can now add Yue to the list, signing the player to a 3.5 year contract at an undisclosed fee.
In his farewell message to fans, Yue, who joined Eastern when he was 12, said that he wanted to move away from his “comfort zone” and play abroad again after rejoining Eastern from Cova da Piedade in 2019.
At the same time, Eastern have signed Yue’s former Cova da Piedade U23’s teammate Zhu Kangming. The 23-year-old Chinese defender has spent his entire career to date in Portugual training in Benfica’s system at age 7, before moving to Cova de Piedade in 2017. Of course, Eastern’s affiliation with Piedade aided Zhu’s recruitment, though head coach Roberto Losada stated in the press release that Zhu is still raw as he has lacked first team experience in the past.
His natural position is centreback, although he can play right back as well, and he should be a direct replacement for Yue if that is the case.
20 August: Matt Orr has been sold to Guangxi Pingguo of China League One, according to Kitchee president Ken Ng. The winger did not feature for Kitchee in their match yesterday against BG Pathum United and it appears likely that his focus was elsewhere after Ng confirmed today that the club agreed to sell him after receiving a third transfer request from Orr. The president was relectant to sell Orr, but admitted that the situation had become a distraction for the club.
“He came through the Kitchee academy, but the situation was similar to (former Kitchee player) Li Ngai-hoi’s,” he told the media. “At the end of the day, if you’re anxious to leave, you’ll eventually become disgruntled and there’s no point in keeping the player in that case.”
In other news, Ng confirmed that Real Union was likely to pick up the option to loan Shinichi Chan, although a work visa has not been approved for the player. The president stated that Chan may need to return to Hong Kong while the paperwork is completed and is unsure whether he can be registered before the close of the transfer window. If it cannot, then Chan will train with the Real Union reserves and join the first team during the winter transfer window.
Ng assured fans that a replacement would be on the way in the form of an Asian foreigner. The player is a left sided player who can play at wing or at left back.
19 August: Kitchee left back Dani Cancela has announced his retirement following the club’s 4-0 loss to BG Pathum United. He made his 250th and final appearance with the club, and was substituted off in the 76th once the result was no longer in doubt.
The 40-year-old from A Coruña in northwestern Spain arrived in Hong Kong in 2010 alongside his compatriots Fernando “Nando” Recio and JOrdi Tarrés, during the Josep Gombau era. But unlike Nando and Jordi, Cancela never left the club on loan during his time with the Bluewaves, instead, remaining with the club until his retirement. Over his 12 years in Hong Kong, he became a Hong Kong international at the age of 37 and all three of his children were born in the city.
Cancela’s retirement now leaves a giant hole at left back for Kitchee. Although Jordon Brown will join up with the team once they return to Hong Kong, the club are anticipating Shinichi Chan’s loan option to be picked up. The club will need to make up for the loss in quality and experience in other areas of the pitch.
18 August: HKU23 have officially unveiled their squad to the media with plenty of new faces abound. In addition to Yim Kai-cheuk and Ryan Lee Chun-yin, who will be first time professionals, former South China wiger Lee Lok-him has also joined the squad. Although the squad will be the youngest in the Premier League, at an average age of 20.3, players such as Adriel Chan and Derek Leung Wai-fung have played in the top flight before.
Former Eastern coach Szeto Man-chun was offically confirmed as the team’s head coach, declaring that the took the job after joining the HKFA earlier in the year. Meanwhile, former head coach Cheung Kin-fung attended one of the team’s media events today, though he is expected to emigrate from Hong Kong shortly.
17 August: Well, well, well, it seems that Philip Lee has found room in his budget for another foreign player. Rangers have signed 32-year-old Brazilian centreback Cássio, who, much like David Bala, has bounced different clubs in Southeast Asia before coming to Hong Kong.
Signing foreigners at centreback has been a bit of a trouble spot for Rangers in recent years. Ryota Hayashi, Douglão, Cesar Leguizamón, and even Tomas – who has is now a Hong Kong international – were unspectacular during their time at the club. Granted, part of this has to do with the quality of the holding midfielders in front of them, but nevertheless, none have been able to provide a calming influence at the back or make the players around them better.
Should Cássio perform at a level that is equal to or better than how Jean-Jacques Kilama performed for Rangers two seasons ago, then perhaps Rangers have a chance to secure themselves of a midtable finish.
15 August: Rangers have promoted two players from their U18s up to the first team. Yeung Hok-man, who can play as a holding midfielder or as a centreback, and gaolkeeper Chan Kwun-sun have signed first team contracts with the team.
15 August: Rangers have added three new U22 players, signing Lui Cheuk-kan from Eastern, Man Man-ching from HKU23 and Chan Yiu-cho from Eastern District.
14 August: HKFC, a team who conceded multiple goals in each of their 14 matches last season, are struggling to recruit players who can help them in this regarded. After his side gave their “worst performance” of the preseason, head coach Tony Hamilton admitted that the team are still looking to recruit local players to help them in midfield, centre back and left back.
Adding to Hamilton’s problems is that first match of the season is exactly three weeks away and the coach conceded that HKFC are in a race against time to be ready. Centre back Martin Fray has yet to return to Hong Kong, while Robert Scott and Jack Sealy have only recently completed quarantine. As well, expected first XI players Macus Macmillan, Morgan Powell and captain Freek Schipper remain sidelined due to injury.
Hamilton did however announce that Paul Ngue – who had been on trial and had been away from professional football since leaving Peagsus in 2019 – would be signed. The club will also sign former HKU23 holding midfielder Ng Tsz-chung.
12 August: Eastern have signed 15-year-old Yeung Tung-ki. In the press release, the club state that the youngster had made rapid progress in the last three years and caught the eye of head coach Roberto Losada. Academy director Wong Chun-yue stated that Yeung would continue to play for Eastern’s U16 team but would train with the first team on occasion in order to adapt to professional football. The plan is for Yeung to fully join the first team next season.
12 August: The HKU23 team have made a slew of signings over the past few days, bringing in defenders Sung Wang-ngai, Derek Leung Wai-fung, Ryan Lee Chun-yin, Yim Kai-cheuk, and Lai Hoi-to. Most of these players have, understandably, never played professional football before, however all of the players – with the exception of Yim – have played in the lower divisions.
11 August: Over in Aberdeen, Southern have announced six new signings this season. Lo Kam-wing, formerly of Rangers, and HP Singh, formerly of HKFC, have joined the club and will add depth to the wings for the Aberdeeners.
The club have also added two more Kitchee youngsters on loan, signing Chen Ngo-hin, who went on trial in Spain back in May, and Yung Ho, who will experience professional football for the first time.
Rounding out the signings is academy products Yau Cheuk-fung, who plays as a forward.
11 August: To King’s Park we go where Resources Capital held their season opening event this afternoon. Joan Esteva – their coach for the past three seasons – left the team in the offseason, and he will be replaced by former Hong Kong U18 head coach Lawrence Tang. Long time fans may recall that he was suspended and subsequently sacked as head coach when the U18s were caught violating team rules during a training camp in Thailand. After the incident, Tang left coaching full time to become a school teacher. However, RCFC director Ho Shun-yin confirmed today that Tang quit his job in order to give professional football another shot.
Joining the team will be former Eastern winger Ng Ka-yeung, Hong Kong futsal member Chau Yui-ming, Au Yeung Ho-ming, and Yoong Ka-hei. A number of players from RCFC’s U16 squad will also be promoted and the budget for the season shall fall between $6-7 million.
Ho confirmed that foreign players Carles Tena, Felipe Sa and Albert Canal have re-signed but does not anticipate that the club will sign more foreigners.
9 August: Rangers have announced their first foreign signing of this offseason, inking 33-year-old Brazilian striker David Bala to a contract. According to the club’s press release, Bala had initially been recommended to them by then-head coach Ricardo Rambo in 2013.
However, the player chose to sign for a club in Thailand, and thus began a journey across Southeast Asia for the better part of seven years. He returned to Brazil in 2020 for treatment on a leg injury and has not played for any club since.
8 August: Talk about a splash in the transfer market for Sham Shui Po! The district team have revealed that former Hong Kong U23 captain Remi Dujardin has joined. The 25-year-old central midfielder had spent his entire career overseas in Spain and Albania since graduating from university in the United States.
Despite their limited $5 million budget, Sham Shui Po have retained most of their squad from last season, including players such as Lo Kong-wai and Yim Kai-wa, and have brought back Wo Chi-ming who played for several seasons with the club down in the lower divisions. All three players will serve as co-captains.
The club have also added former Southern player Lau Ho-lam, who left professional football last season, former HKFC keeper To Chun-kiu, former HKU23’s players Matthew Chan and Chow Ka-lok. As for foreigners, the club have added former North District players Chen Hao and Thiago Silva to the mix.
8 August: The two newly promoted clubs both held their season opening media event today. First up were Tai Po where a dozen new players were presented by head coach Li Hang-wui. Some of the names include Law Chun-ting, Tse Ka-wing and Lee Ka-ho who had been previously announced.
Three Brazilian foreigners will be making their way to the New Territories club, the most notable of which is João Emir. The 33-year-old playmaker returns to professional football a year after leaving Eastern to recover from a knee injury. The other two will be striker Paulinho Simionato and centre back Gabriel Cividini, neither of whom have played in Hong Kong before.
Keeper Li Hon-ho, surprisingly, will join the Greens in the top flight two years after leaving the game to seek a more stable career as an insurance broker. His arrangement with the club is likely the same as 37-year-old Sze Kin-wai, who admitted to reporters that he will stay with the club in a semi-professional role. Sze stated that he will continue to work his day job and will not be present in all of Tai Po’s training sessions during the week, but hopes to maintain his fitness levels to a point where he can play 45 minutes per match.
7 August: HKFC and RCFC participated in a preseason friendly down at HKFC Stadium today where a number of new players were spotted for the home side. After the match, HKFC coach Tony Hamilton revealed that former Southern right back Jack Sealy had returned to his boyhood club where his father, Tony Sealy, currently serves as a director.
Long-time stalwarts such as captain Freek Schipper, Robert Scott, and Martin Fray will remain at the club.
Of note, former Hong Kong international Paul Ngue and Guinean attacking midfielder Habib – who played for North District for the past two seasons – are currently on trial. Alexandre Dujardin, younger brother of Remi, has also returned to his boyhood club.
4 August: In an unsurprising move, Eastern have snapped up one of the top Hong Kong players under the age of 22. Anson Wong Ho-chun has joined Robert Losada side as he looks to face an easier road to playing time than he did under Chan Hiu-ming at Lee Man.
The 20-year-old winger can play on both flanks and performed well in the Sapling Cup where he contributed two goals and five assists over 13 appearances for the Bees. But due to Lee Man’s depth at both wing positions, he was limited to only 62 minutes in the league in two years at the club.
4 August: Lam Hok-hei has returned to Rangers after spending the past season down in the lower divisions at Tsuen Wan. In describing his decision to return to the professional ranks, Lam said, “When I played in the Third Division this past season, I made it clear that I would return to the Premier League one day and that hasn’t changed. I had planned to take a break from top flight football to sort out some financial issues, but now it has been resolved and I can return to Rangers with a clear mind.”
With the departure of Leandro Basan over the offseason, and no plan as of now to replace the Argentine striker, Lam is expected to be Rangers’ starting centre forward for the upcoming season.
3 August: Former Yuen Long and Pegasus midfielder Kessi has returned to Hong Kong, joining Southern for the upcoming season. The Brazilian first arrived in Hong Kong in 2018 when he joined Yuen Long thanks to Fabio Lopes’ connections in his native country. He later joined Pegasus in 2020 when Lopes also moved to the Horsemen but left Hong Kong after the club’s relegation. After spending t the back half of 2021 unattached, Kessi played for a Brazilian lower division side in the earl part of the year and will provide Ricky Cheng’s side with some much needed defensive mettle in the centre of the pitch.
29 July: A little over a week after Manu Gavilán let the world know via Instagram that he was returning to Hong Kong, the Spaniard has signed with Lee Man. Although he mostly played out wide on the right in the Spanish lower divisions, Gavilán was deployed as a centre forward during his time at Happy Valley where he excelled at holding the ball for a counterattacking team. However, he moved back out wide after he signed with Kitchee and never quite found the same success that he did at Valley. After the Bluewaves signed Turkemnistan international Ruslan Mingasov in March, Gavilán never again featured for Kitchee and his contract was allowed to expire.
Lee Man have signed the 31-year-old to replace Junior Dutra, who left at the end of June. Head coach Chan Hiu-ming mentioned in the press release that he expects Gavilán to share in the goal scoring duties, and it appears that the club’s other striker Manuel Bleda still has another year remaining on his deal.
29 July: Ex-South China winger Mahama Awal is returning to the Premier League after two years away. Southern officially confirmed the Cameroonian’s arrival, putting pen to paper on a contract. Awal never actually left Hong Kong as he spent a year out of football after leaving Pegasus in 2020 following the Horsemen’s decision to withdraw during the 2019-2020 season. He then played the past season at North District where he contributed 13 goals and three assists across 19 matches for the club.
Southern have confirmed that Awal will be registered as a foreigner for the time being as his application for a Hong Kong passport is awaiting approval.
26 July: Winger Lee Chun-ting is the latest Eastern academy product to earn a promotion to the first team. The 17-year-old was part of Tai Po’s setup prior to the 2021-22 season, and scored four goals in the U18 Premier Youth League Cup for the Eastern U18s.
25 July: Big news at Kitchee – Gerbig news, you might say. As expected, the Bluewaves have signed former Hong Kong U23 international Oliver Gerbig to a contract. In training, the centre back has been paired with Hélio in the A team, a sign that he could make his debut against BG Pathum in the ACL next month. He is believed to be highly rated at Kitchee and sources tell Offside that he was offered a six-figure salary from an unnamed Chinese Super League club before deciding to sign with Kitchee.
The other big news at the club is that Fernando has officially returned after spending the past two years at Eastern. The 35-year-old had been on trial with the club and reportedly declined a call up to the Hong Kong squad for the EAFF Championship in order to nail down a place with the Bluewaves. The naturalized winger enjoyed the most productive years of his career with Kitchee, scoring 20 goals and contributing 34 assists over 72 league matches for the club. He was also named Hong Kong Footballer of the Year in 2017 during his time with the club.
Kitchee play to fly to South Korea on Tuesday to begin training for their ACL campaign, although one player who will not be getting on that flight is Eduardo Praes. The centre back has agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Kitchee after two weeks due to “family reasons”, although it is believed that he suffered a recurrence of the knee injury which cost him the entire 2021-22 season.
25 July: Lee Man have added another defender to their squad after signing former Southern right back Ryan Cheng. The 21-year-old made 31 appearances for the Aberdeeners since making his debut in 2019. He joins a crowded field at right back where he will be competing with Tsui Wang-kit and Tsang Kam-to for minutes.
The Bees have also signed keeper Tang Tsz-long from the club’s academy.
23 July: Big news in Abdereen as Southern have made a major coup in the transfer market! Centre back Lau Hok-ming, who enjoyed his best years with the Abdereeners, will return to the club three years after leaving for Eastern in 2019.
In fact, Lau never made a competitive appearance for Eastern as he spent loan spells at Lee Man, Pegasus and Rangers throughout the length of his contract.
23 July: Eastern have announced their first two signings of the summer and to no surprise, they’ve promoted two players from their academy. Holding midfielder Wong Wai-chun, who made his debut for the club in the AFC Cup, has officially signed a professional contract.
As has central midfielder Prabhat Gurung, who is of Nepali descent, and is expected to complete his naturalization procedure before the start of the season according to the club.
21 July: Southern are back at it again. Last season the Aberdeeners acquired attacking midfielder Cheng Chin-lung on loan from Kitchee, and this season the club have signed Justin Ho Chun-ting and Seb Buddle on loan from the Bluewaves. There are many deep connections between the two clubs as both chairmen – Chan Man-chun of Southern and Ken Ng of Kitchee – have worked together in the past, including on the recently announced pilot for the Premier League’s independent commission.
Ho had been coming into his own after two loan spells at Hoi King and Tai Po as a holding midfielder who could progress the ball from midfield to attack. After a strong season with Kitchee in 2020-21 where he started in two of the club’s ACL matches, the midfielder ruptured several knee ligaments in a preseason friendly and missed the entirety of last season.
Buddle has been on loaned twice in his career, once at Hoi King and most recently with the HKU23s. The winger will turn 23 next week could face a make-or-break year at Southern next season as Kitchee have released players such as Connor Tong and Mark Swainston in the past, at an earlier age than Buddle, if they didn’t feel that they could make the grade.
18 July: Southern are steadily announcing their incoming players for the season, and this time they’ve announced the singing of former Eastern right back Lee Ka-yiu. A member of the so called ‘Kin Army’ – the group of players who tend to follow their mentor Lee Chi-kin from club to club – this move represents the first time in which the younger Lee has joined a club for which the coach was not affiliated with.
17 July: One more bit of news on a busy Sunday – Sham Shui Po have announced that one of their more experienced players, Hui Ka-lok, will not join the club in the Premier League next season as the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. Hui had previously said that he would be interested in returning to professional football if the club were to promote. But with a budget of only $5 million, it appears that SSP did not have the funds to entice the winger to become a full-time player again.
17 July: Who said Sunday would be a day of rest in Hong Kong football? Earlier on in the day, Southern announced the list of departing players this offseason and hours later, they’ve announced the first newcomer of the season.
Tse Long-hin, who spent the first month of last season playing semi-professionally for South China before joining Rangers, has joined the Aberdeeners. Southern had earlier announced that Jack Sealy and Ryan Cheng, both right backs, had left the club and in Tse, they have found a player who combines the best of both players. He will provide experience down the right for Ricky Cheng’s side while having the work rate to get up and down the pitch, should Cheng decide to re-implement his preferred 3-5-2 formation.
17 July: New Tai Po head coach Li Hang-wui has been busy at work assembling his squad, and this time he has worked his connections to bring in a player from his previous employers, Lee Man. The Bees have announced that they have loaned left back Yung Hui-to to the Greens for one season.
17 July: Southern have announced that nine players have left the club. Several of the names on the list were previously announced, including player-manager Zesh Rehman – who left in April – as well as James Ha, Luciano, and Toby Down.
A notable departure that was not previously known was former Hong Kong international Jack Sealy, whose career appears to be winding down.
15 July: On the same day that Hong Kong will announce their squad for the upcoming EAFF Championship, one of its expected members has found a new club.
Centre back Fung Hing-wa, who has started three of Hong Kong’s four matches thus far this year, has joined Lee Man. The 29-year-old had recently parted ways with Eastern after two seasons, just prior to the start of the AFC Cup group stage in which they were due to face Lee Man. One could surmise that he wanted to avoid the awkwardness of facing his soon-to-be employers.
The Bees have also signed Ryoya Tachibana, a Japanese left back who has spent the past six years in Montenegro. In fact, Tachibana has never played in his native country in his career and this trend will continue at least for more season.
13 July: The hero of Sunday’s First Division League Cup final for Tai Po, Chan Kong-pan, has announced on his Instagram page that he will not remain with the club as they rejoin the Premier League next season. The defender, who scored both goals for the Greens in their 2-1 victory, had said after the match that he needed to think things over.
Chan played seven seasons in the top flight – the first with Pegasus and the last six with Southern – before leaving professional football and joining Tai Po last season.
12 July: A big day for signings in Hong Kong football as Kitchee’s title rivals Lee Man have also signed a player from Eastern. The Bees have signed winger Everton Camargo, who has been one of the most prolific goal scorers in Hong Kong since arriving in early 2016, finding the back of the net 70 times across all competitions.
The Brazilian is eligible to apply for naturalization in a half year.
12 July: Kitchee have returned to training ahead of their round of 16 matchup against BG Pathum United next month in the AFC Champions League. The Bluewaves opened their training session to the media today where they announced the signing of Mikael and Eduardo Praes from Eastern and Jordon Brown from RCFC. Both Praes and Brown are expected to receive their Hong Kong passports shortly and will fill the voids left by Sean Tse and Shinichi Chan at centre back and left back respectively.
There was a third ex-Eastern player who was at training today – Hong Kong international Fernando. Head coach Alex Chu downplayed played the winger’s presence, saying that he had not signed a contract to return to the club where he played for between 2015 to 2020 and established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League’s brief history.
Also on trial with the club were German-Hong Kong centre back Oliver Gerbig and Italian-Hong Kong goalkeeper Leonardo Costa. Gerbig returns to Hong Kong after playing in the NCAA for Coastal Carolina and Virginia. Costa played for Citizen in 2020-21 but was unattached this past season.
11 July: Jared Lum, who left Eastern recently, has announced via social media that his time in Hong Kong has come to an end. The 29-year-old signed with Kitchee in January 2016 and played for the Bluewaves for four season before making the move to R&F.
However, the Sydney born midfielder never played for R&F as the club folded in October 2020 and Lum signed with Eastern a month later.
11 July: New Tai Po head coach Li Hang-wui has given his first interview since his appointment where he announced that the recruitment of players of his squad is nearly complete. Among those will be joining the Greens will be Tse Ka-wing, Lee Ka-ho, Law Chun-ting and Chung Wai-ho.
Tse spent last season at HKU23 where he shared the starting duties with Pong Cheuk-hei.
Lee and Law have both been playing the First Division with Eastern District and Yuen Long respectively after they were unable to find a club to sign with in the professional ranks.
Chung returns to the club after famously winning the league with Tai Po in 2019. However, he has struggled with injuries since then, missing parts of the past two seasons with various knee injuries.
10 July: First Division League Cup finalists Tai Po and Sham Shui Po both confirmed that they are going up to the Premier League next season.
After Tai Po won the match 2-1, chairman Peter Lam and secretary general Chan Ping told the press that Li Hang-wui would be the head coach for next season. 37 year old team captain Sze Kin-wai, who last played in the Premier League in 2015, will promote with the team along with Chris Annan and Chan Hiu-fung. The club expect to retain half of their squad and have already come to terms with two Brazilian foreigners.
Similarly, Sham Shui Po expect to retain half of their squad although their preparations appear to be further behind. The club are still fundraising to meet their goal of having a $5 million budget for next season and general manager Ko Chun-kay has conceded that it will be difficult to convince players who have full-time jobs to play for “less than minimum wage”.
9 July: Shinichi Chan will go trial with Spanish club Real Unión for month, according to Kitchee. If successful, the left back will be loaned to Real Unión for one year.
Chan attended a talent identification camp in Spain back in May and it appears that he has attracted the attention of the Basque club. Real Unión are owned by current Villareal manager Unai Emery and play in the Spanish third tier.
9 July: A week after returning to Hong Kong after qualifying for the AFC Cup knockout stage, Eastern have announced that seven players will leave the club. Fernando and Mikael, who were starters for Eastern in both matches, are among the departures.
The list of departures is growing ever larger for the Blues as the club’s owners have decided to reallocate funds towards Eastern’s basketball division. Other players such as Fung Hing-wa, Everton Camargo, Matt Lam and Clayton had left the club before the AFC Cup campaign.
8 July: RCFC midfielder and co-captain Carles Tena has revealed that he is leaving the Pink Ribbons after two seasons. The club’s director of football, Ho Shun-yin, said that the club would miss such a quality player but stated that, as of now, there were no plans to replace Tena with another foreigner.
8 July: Lee Man have made the first big splash of the transfer season and what a splash it is. They have signed Hong Kong international midfielder Wong Wai, who spent the past season on loan at HKU23 from Eastern.
With Bees head coach Chan Hiu-ming preferring to switch from his usual 4-2-3-1 formation to 4-3-3 at times last season, the club would often use Jonathan Acosta and Yuto Nakamura as dual number 8s in midfield. The signing of Wong gives Chan a better player to pair with Acosta and allows them to play 4-3-3 as their default formation, which is important given that the club tends to struggle for creativity whenever the Argentine struggles.
5 July: The Hong Kong U23s have announced the departure of nine players, six of whom were on loan last season. The most notable departure is that of captain Wong Wai, who performed well for Hong Kong last month.
3 July: At a community event, Hong Kong international Ju Yingzhi appeared with several of his Southern teammates. Chairman Chan Man-chun later confirmed that Ju, whose contract originally expired on 31 May, had re-signed with the club along with fellow Hong Kong international Jahangir Khan. Foreign players such as Stefan Pereira, Dudu, Sasaki Shu and Kawase Kota were also confirmed to have re-signed with the Aberdeeners.
Not appearing were Luciano, who has reportedly retired, and James Ha, who withdrew from the Hong Kong squad due to a knee injury. Ha is currently in the UK where he is on trial with an unknown club.
1 July: On the day that contracts end for players involved in Asian competition, Kitchee have announced that Tong Kin-man, Philip Chan, Guo Jianqiao, Bosley Yu and Sean Tse have left the club.
Chan and Tse were both involved in the Hong Kong squad last month as they qualified for Asian Cup for the first time since 1968.
Eastern
In | Out |
Wong Wai-chun | Wong Wai |
Prabhat Gurung | Fernando |
Anson Wong Ho-chun | Everton Camargo |
Yeung Tung-ki | Fung Hing-wa |
Zhu Kangming | Matt Lam |
Lee Chun-ting | Jared Lum |
Casey Lau Ho-yeung | Clayton |
Emilio Estevez | Toni Dovale |
Mikael | |
Lee Ka-yiu | |
Eduardo Praes | |
Chung Wai-keung | |
Ng Ka-yeung | |
Lau Hok-ming | |
Toby Down | |
Jerry Lam Lok-yin | |
Lui Cheuk-kan | |
Yue Tsz-nam |
Hong Kong U23
In | Out |
Sung Wang-ngai | Tse Ka-wing |
Derek Leung Wai-fung | Wong Chi-Hong |
Ryan Lee Chun-yin | Matthew Chan Ching-him |
Adriel Chan | Ng Tsz-chung |
Lee Lok-him | Wong Wai (loan expired) |
Michael Wan | Chow Ka-lok (loan expired) |
Ng Pak-hei | Chan Yun-tung (loan expired) |
Ho Lung-ho | Seb Buddle (loan expired) |
Yim Kai-cheuk (loan) | Ma Man-ching (loan expired) |
Lai Hoi-to (loan) | Lee Oi-hin (loan expired) |
HKFC
In | Out |
Jack Sealy | To Chun-kiu |
Paul Ngue | HP Singh |
Alexandre Dujardin | Matthew Hoare |
Ng Tsz-chung | Oliver Laxton |
Habib | Peter Smith |
Emmet Wan | Stephen Liu |
Issey Maholo | Tom Harrington |
Marcus McMillan | Kieran Robinson |
Siu Ka-ming | Oliver Rossiter |
Rémi Depalmas | Chris Chung |
Raphaël Merkies | Max Poon |
Justin Fung Long-hin | Ghislain Bell Bell |
Tim Chow | Liu Sui-man |
Wong Shung-choi | Robert Bacon |
Paulinho | |
Henry Moore |
Kitchee
In | Out |
Mikael | Sean Tse |
Jordon Brown | Park Jun-heong |
Ngan Cheuk-pan | Manu Gavilán |
Fernando | Matt Orr |
Oliver Gerbig | Dani Cancela |
Kam Chi-kin | Tong Kin-man |
Tsang Chun-hin | Guo Jianqiao |
Dai Tsz-hin | Bosley Yu |
Michalis Manias | Philip Chan |
Maddox Kong | Wellingsson |
Bekzhan Sagynbayev | Justin Ho Chun-ting (loaned out) |
Yuen Chun-him | Seb Buddle (loaned out) |
Yim Kai-cheuk | Chen Ngo-hin (loaned out) |
Ho Yung (loaned out) | |
Yim Kai-cheuk (loaned out) |
Lee Man
In | Out |
Everton Camargo | Júnior Dutra |
Wong Wai | Kim Seung-yong |
Fung Hing-wa | Anson Wong Ho-chun |
Ryoya Tachibana | Yung Hui-to (loaned out) |
Ryan Cheng Chun-wang | |
Tang Tsz-long | |
Manu Gavilán | |
Leung Lap-tin | |
Liang Ngai-tung |
Rangers
In | Out |
Lam Hok-hei | Leandro Basan |
David Bala | Tse Long-hin |
Cássio | Lee Oi-hin |
Chan Yiu-yin | Aleks Shliakotin |
Ma Man-ching | Ma Man-hin |
Lui Cheuk-kan | Chow Ka-lok |
Chan Yiu-cho | Cheng Tsz-sum |
Yeung Hok-man | Hinson Wong |
Chan Kun-sun | Chan Lik-hang |
Herman Yeung | Cheung Ka-chun |
Loong Tsz-hin | Li Hong-chun |
Chong Kai-wai | Lo Kam-wang |
Marco Wegener | Chan Kun-sun |
Kaan Gül | Li Chun-ting |
Chan Yun-tung (returned from loan) | Lai Hoi-to (loaned out) |
Lau Hok-ming (loan expired) |
Resources Capital
In | Out |
Ng Ka-yeung | Jordon Brown |
Chau Yui-wang | Joan Esteva Jr. |
Au Yeung Ho-ming | Liu Yik-shing |
Yoong Ka-hei | Chan Man-hoi |
Leung Tsz-kin | Lam Fu-kwai |
Benjamin Tandy-Ortega | Ho Chun-ho |
Ma Man-ching |
Sham Shui Po
In | Out |
Thiago Silva | Hui Ka-lok |
Chen Hao | Tsang Tsun-hau |
Remi Dujardin | Ho Tsz-him |
Lau Ho-lam | Cheung Ho-kok |
Matthew Chan Ching-him | Chan Ming-kong |
To Chun-kiu | Li Ching-ting |
Chow Ka-lok | Wong Wai-chun |
Tang Tsz-kwan | Justin Ng Sau-yin |
Tai Ting-hong | Tse Ming-hei |
Koby Lam Chun-wai | Chan Hok-nam |
Wo Chi-ming | |
Oyuntuya Oyunbold | |
Stefan Antonić | |
Aleks Shliakotin (on loan) |
Southern
In | Out |
Tse Long-hin | James Ha |
Lee Ka-yiu | Luciano |
Lau Hok-ming | Jack Sealy |
Mahama Awal | Ryan Cheng Chun-wan |
Kessi | Adriel Chan |
HP Singh | Maddox Kong |
Lo Kam-wang | Toby Down (loan expired) |
Chen Ngo-hin | |
Yung Ho | |
Yau Cheuk-fung | |
Justin Ho Chun-ting (on loan) | |
Seb Buddle (on loan) |
Tai Po
In | Out |
Tse Ka-wing | Cheung Chi-yung |
Chung Wai-keung | Chan Kong-pan |
Lee Ka-ho | Fan Ka-long |
Law Chun-ting | Fong Pak-lun |
João Emir | Wong Tsz-hong |
Cheng Tsz-sum | Yip Ngai-san |
Gabriel Cividini | Ye Jia |
Paulinho Simionato | Lew Wai-yip |
Lin Chi-kei | Lam Wang-tai |
Wong Tsz-chun | Lee Kwan-hap |
Kwan Kin-long | So Chin-ho |
Liu Wai-yeung | Lee Kong-wing |
Cheung Lik-hang | Yuen Hei-kan |
Naveed | Brandon Fu Shao-yip |
Fung Kwun-ming | Shih Kai-hin |
Yung Hui-to (on loan) | Liu Wai-yeung |
Chris Annan |
