Hong Kong’s Tan Chun-lok set for bright future in CSL after high praise from coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst

The Guangzhou R&F midfielder will be the second Hong Kong Chinese to start in CSL if he plays against Shenzhen on Sunday

Tan twice won the young player of the year award after spending his youth days in a football academy in England

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Tan Chun-lok breaks away from two Bahrain players at a 2022 World Cup Asian zone qualifiers at Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: May Tse

Published: 6:47pm, 24 Jul 2020Updated: 10:33pm, 25 Jul 2020

Hong Kong international Tan Chun-lok is set to scale new heights in his career with Guangzhou R&F in the Chinese Super League after earning high praise from his world-renowned coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The 24-year-old attacking midfielder joined the mainland club in 2018 but spent most of his time with their second tier squad in the Hong Kong Premier League.

But with the arrival of the Dutchman in January everything seems poised to change.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst (left) and Mark van Bommel with the Netherlands during a 2-1 win over Slovakia at the 2010 World Cup. Photo: EPA

Tan appeared in most of the preseason matches under Van Bronckhorst, including last week’s 4-0 victory over Hebei China Fortune, before arriving in Dalian and is likely to start for the first time when they take on Shenzhen FC in their opening game of the season on Sunday.

Dalian is one of the two designated playing zones for the 2020 season which has been delayed since February because of the pandemic. The other one is Suzhou.