Reporter Lu Mi reports Before the Spring Festival holiday ended, the Henan team went to Jeju Island, South Korea to start the third phase of winter training. At present, the Henan team is almost neat, and coach Nan Jiyi said that this year's goal is to be in the top six of the Chinese Super League.

Compared with before the Spring Festival, the lineup of the Henan team has been further enriched, and the foreign aid central defender Lucas has successfully completed the procedures and joined as a free agent.

When he was in charge last year, coach Nanji arrived late in the team, and the original club management had already built the personnel team for the 2024 season, so he didn't have much room to move. This year, although the club has cut its budget, it has given Nan Kiyi maximum support in terms of reinforcements and contract renewals.

After the end of the Chinese Super League last season, Nanji went to Brazil to inspect foreign aids, and the first thing to be determined was Brazilian central defender Lucas. Judging from the tactics of the recent drill, the Henan team has a high probability of focusing on three central defenders in the new season, including two foreign central defenders.

On the front line, Kovic joined Suzhou Dongwu in the Chinese League after his contract expired, and the center forward position was vacant, and the coaching staff provided three options: the best of them was to loan Chilean striker Pino who played for Iquique, with a buyout clause; followed by a center forward from the K-League; Again, it is Brazilian striker Cardoso, who plays for Grozny in the Russian Premier League.

However, as the first choice, Pinault does not want to come to the Chinese Super League, and the Henan club can only give up; The K-League centre-forward has not responded to the invitation, and in order not to delay the third phase of the personnel run-in, the club rushed to finalize Cardoso before Chinese New Year's Eve, and Grozny officially announced that he was on loan.

After Cardoso was in place, the foreign aid framework of the Henan team became complete. After arriving in Jeju Island, the team quickly ushered in the warm-up match, and on February 3, they played the first warm-up match against Korea University in South Korea, and the team won 2-1 with goals from Nasario and Chung Eui-ho; In the second warm-up match on February 4, the team played against Yanbian Longding of the Chinese League, Chen Keqiang scored the only goal, and the Henan team won two consecutive warm-up matches.

Cardoso completed his loan spell but did not appear in the squad for either warm-up game and did not train with the team.

In terms of domestic players, new signings He Chao and Zheng Dalun gradually entered the state after experiencing the previous stage of winter training; Returning midfielder Yoon Hong-bak did not travel to Jeju Island with the team due to injury, and the news shows that he is currently undergoing treatment in the country; Ding Haifeng, the central defender who followed the training in the last stage, has left the team before the team left for Jeju Island, and he has not been able to renew the relationship with the Henan club, and his next home is likely to be the West Coast.

The center forward position of domestic players, after Feng Boyuan's contract expired and left the team, was also vacant. But this winter window, there are fewer domestic centers in the market, and Tang Chuang, who had previously trained with Taishan but failed to join, was once recommended to Henan, but due to the large gap between the salary and the club's expectations, it was also unsuccessful. Recently, former Cangzhou striker Liu Xinyu came to Jeju Island for training, and there is a possibility of signing a contract between the two sides.

At present, in this winter window, the Henan team's recruitment action is not large, and it is basically introduced on demand. At the moment of budget cuts, this year the club focuses on operation, increasing the club's self-hematopoietic ability, and providing protection for the first team.

It is worth mentioning that before the departure to Jeju Island, when the first team held a meeting, Nam Ki-il said that he would strive to hit the top six in the Super League this year.