Ending a 4.5-year overseas career! Former Chinese youth national team goalkeeper, aged 22, signs with Beijing Guoan after joining Bayern Munich for €1 million.

On June 24, Beijing time, as confirmed by the well-known blogger "Qingzheng Shuxiong_GuoAn," the 22-year-old Chinese goalkeeper Liu Shaoyang, a former player for Bayern Munich's reserve side, has completed a contract with CSL powerhouse Beijing Guoan. He came back to China on the 22nd and reached Beijing, marking the end of his 4.5-year spell playing overseas.

Notably, during the secondary transfer window a year ago, Liu Shaoyang had already reached an agreement with Guoan to join, but the move fell through due to registration issues. Guoan then signed Zhang Jianzhi instead. A year later, the two sides have finally sealed the deal.

Born on December 11, 2003, Liu Shaoyang stands 1.91 meters tall and came through the youth system of Wuhan Three Towns. He was named to the U20 national youth team roster and was once a teammate of players like Bayram, Hu Hetao, Xu Bin, and Liu Haofan.

In January 2022, Liu Shaoyang began his overseas journey, transferring to Bayern Munich's reserve team for €1 million, setting a new record for Chinese players going abroad. With such a high starting point, he was seen as a rising hope for Chinese football.

However, Liu Shaoyang never made an appearance for Bayern's first team. He then moved through the Austrian Bundesliga, Austrian second division, and the US third-tier league. Facing a bottleneck in his overseas career, he had no choice but to return to China.

Although Beijing Guoan currently has as many as six goalkeepers on their roster, only the 36-year-old veteran Hou Sen is truly reliable. It remains to be seen whether the 22-year-old Liu Shaoyang can successfully succeed Hou Sen in the future.

Of course, ending an overseas stint and returning to play in China is not necessarily a step backward. A successful example is Li Hao, who is the same age as Liu Shaoyang. Li Hao has grown into one of the best goalkeepers in the CSL and has even made appearances for the national team. Hopefully, Liu Shaoyang can catch up to Li Hao's progress soon.