Hong Kong internationals among 8 to leave Kitchee weeks before club’s Champions League campaign, but boss Chu remains upbeat
- Midfielders Sean Tse and Philip Chan among those departing club after their contracts expire
- But both have been included in head coach Jorn Andersen’s training squad for the EAFF Championships later this month
Three Hong Kong internationals are among a host of players who have left Premier League champions Kitchee just weeks before the start of the new season, and ahead of the club’s first appearance in the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.
Sean Tse Ka-Keung, Philip Chan Siu-kwan and Tong Kin-man left the club on Friday when their contracts ran out. Two other players also left – goalkeeper Guo Jianqiao and defender Bosley Yu Yeung.
After Kitchee qualified for the 2022 AFC Champions League in May, they also announced that three foreign players – defender Park Jun-heong, midfielder Manuel Gavilan and forward Wellingsson de Souza – had been released for the same reason.
But despite the loss of the influential group, Chu Chi-kwong, the club’s director of football and head coach, insisted his side would not be weakened by their departure.
“This is not uncommon at the end of the season, when teams begin to prepare for the new campaign,” he said.
“We have to decide who will stay and who will not. On paper, it seems we have lost quite a number of players, but Kitchee is an ambitious club and there will be new faces joining us.
“Also, one of our primary targets is to give opportunities to the young players and this is why we have to make room for them or they will never get the chance.”
