Manchester City’s Chinese sister club Sichuan Jiuniu sign Hong Kong’s Matt Orr – who also wins player-of-the-year honour
- The striker’s move is confirmed as he prepares to play in Hong Kong’s first appearance in the Asian Cup finals since 1968
- He earns his hoped-for step up to the Chinese Super League as his goalscoring feats in mainland China’s second tier win him 2023’s player-of-the-year award
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Hong Kong striker Matt Orr has landed his dream move to the Chinese Super League after the Manchester City-affiliated Sichuan Jiuniu completed his signing.
Orr, whose exploits in the mainland’s second-tier Chinese League One saw him named the division’s player of the year on Thursday, was confirmed as a Sichuan player when the Hong Kong Football Association submitted its squad list for this month’s AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
The 27-year-old drew interest from Sichuan after scoring 15 goals in 26 games for Guangxi Pingguo Haliao last season in League One, from which his new side were promoted as champions.
Sichuan are majority-owned by City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi holding company behind English Premier League champions Manchester City as well as several other clubs including New York City, Mumbai City and Melbourne City.
Orr spent 1½ seasons at Guangxi after leaving Hong Kong’s Kitchee, taking time to adapt in his first campaign before flourishing last year, helping his team to a fourth-place finish.
Born in Hong Kong to a New Zealand father and a Chinese mother, Orr last month told the Post: “I have not been shy to say, I went to China with the ambition of playing in the Super League. I am extremely hungry and want to prove myself at the highest level.”
He announced on Weibo just before the turn of the year that he was leaving Guangxi, and expressed “mixed feelings” as he thanked the team and fans for his time there.
“We’ve created some special moments and historic breakthroughs together,” he wrote. “You all have brought me to this big family and embraced me from day one. For that I will always be grateful.
Leave Hong Kong if you want to improve, mainland China-based footballer Orr says
“It’s difficult to bid farewell to the fans, the best in the league! Thank you for your never-ending support. Football is nothing without the fans and you’ve made each and every home game so special.”
Chinese media reported that Guangxi made Orr an offer in the hope of retaining him, but the Hongkonger was determined to play in the top flight.
The first Hong Kong player to scoop the League One player-of-the-year gong, Orr was also named in the league’s team of the 2023 season. He was joined by three players from Sichuan and five from runners-up Qingdao West Coast, but top scorer Moses Ogbu, of Shijiazhuang Gongfu, did not make the list.
