Raware

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2037 Probably our worst youth intake since I’ve been at the club as only Byron Wright (37E), Liao Xinpeng (37J) and Gao Jiansheng (37O) looked good enough to be offered contracts. Chen Hui (37A) Wang Junhao (37B) Zhang Zhiqiang (37C) Yan Jin (37D) Byron Wright (37E) Zhang Chang (37F) Zhang Cheng (37G) Chen Lu (37H) Yu Zhe (37I) Liao Xinpeng (37J) Zhang Song (37K) Wu Peng (37L) Chen Liang (37M) Bu Yi (37N) Gao Jiansheng (37O) Xing Mingyang (37P)

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2037 League expectation Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1st (out of 16) Cup expectations Asian Champions League: Reach the knockout stages. Asian Chinese FA Cup: Win the Chinese FA Cup. Chinese Super Cup: Not important. Transfer budget: £30 million (last season £45 million) Wage budget: £600k (last season £550k p/w) Current wage bill: £360k (last season £335k p/w) Season tickets sold: 43,784 (last season 43,784) My views for the season ahead: After giving up our league title to rivals Shanghai last season, it’s no surprise that the board are wanting us to win the league this season and take back our 4th league title in 6 years. Given how strong Shanghai were last season though, it’s not going to be as straight forward as I’d have liked. We’re also expected to win the FA Cup and the Super Cup is seen as nothing but a season opener now. We’re also into the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League after topping our group so we’ll also be looking to at least make a challenge at retaining our Asian Champions League title. Just the one signing has come in to help us but it’s a significant signing as central defender Jin Fan joins us from rivals Shanghai for £18 million. A bit more than I’d have liked to have spent but after last season, I felt that we needed a little more strength in defence. I’m actually surprised that Shanghai let him go given how strong he was last season…hopefully he can be the difference for us this season!

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2036 Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: As mentioned in the title race update, Shanghai were leading the race with 5 games to go as we sat 4 points behind them. We did our job and won our remaining 5 games, but so did Shanghai as they went on to claim the title by 4 points and put an end to our 3 year league dominance. Whilst I’m obviously disappointed that we couldn’t retain the title, as are the board, it certainly made the season interesting and could prove to be the beginning of a real rivalry! Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group I: Having qualified from our ACL Group at the end of last season, we continued our journey this season in the knockout rounds where we disposed of South Korean side Suwon in the 2nd round, Japanese side Kobe in the Quarter Final and South Korean side Ulsan in the Semi Final to book our place in the clubs very first ACL Final. Al-Hilal have been strong in this competition having made the final in the last 2 years, winning the competition last season and finishing as runners-up the season before, so understandably they were the favourites over the two legs. Saying that, they had a lot of injuries to key players which worked out well for us as we clinched a 3-0 win in the 1st leg. Despite losing the 2nd leg 1-0, our win in the 1st leg was enough for us to clinch the clubs very first Asian Champions League trophy! We began this seasons ACL having been drawn in Group I alongside Sydney FC, Abahani KC, and once again Suwon where 5 wins and a draw was enough to see us once again qualify for the knockout round, where we can hopefully make an attempt at retaining our ACL title. Chinese Super Cup: A 2-0 win in the season opener was enough for us to pick up our first trophy of the season against rivals Shanghai. Chinese FA Cup: A very early scare for us in the 4th round against First Division side NJ City almost saw us exit the competition early on, but thanks to a penalty shootout win, we managed to progress all the way to the Final, where we disposed of Changchun over two legs to once again claim the Chinese FA Cup. Transfers: Our activity in the transfer window came at the start of the season as Colombian Juan Carlos Aguirre joined us on a free transfer from Atletico Bucaramanga, whilst young goalkeeper Ji Xun joined us from Guangzhou for £300k. Squad: Gerson Bouth continued where he left off as he smashed in another incredible number of goals as he hit 55 goals in 47 games, that included his 150th league goal for the club, whilst also claiming the Chinese Super League Golden Boot award. Mitsuo Fukano also had another great season as grabbed 17 goals and 21 assists from the left wing, whilst Yao Qi grabbed himself 12 goals and 21 assists from the right wing, as well as claiming the Chinese Super League Most Popular Domestic Player award. Zheng Jiawei continued to develop how I’d hoped he would as he scored 12 goals but in the process has attracted the interest of a number of Saudi clubs and with a £13.25 million minimum fee release clause in his contract, it could prove to be difficult in trying to keep him at the club. Finances: Another season of profit sees us with nearly £60 million in the bank. My views of the season: A bittersweet kind of season for us this year as whilst we finally managed to win the Asian Champions League, we failed to win the Chinese Super League as Shanghai proved to be just too strong over the course of the season. We ran them close and although we didn’t lose a game, the second season in a row that we remained unbeaten in the league by the way, we ultimately drew too many games. Still, we managed to win the Chinese Super Cup and the Chinese FA Cup as well so we’ve got to see this season as another really successful season, despite the board stating their displeasure at my performance as manager. My aims for next season: Several members of the squad have come to me wanting reassurances that we’ll win the league next season after failing to win it this season, so I’ve had to promise them that we’ll win it to keep them onside, or I’d have faced a squad mutiny! Given that Shanghai have further improved their side with some more additions though, it’s obviously going to be another tough league season. We’ve also got our Asian Champions League title to retain as well as we’ll continue our journey at the start of next season where we’ve made it through the to the knockout stages. As always as well, this time of the year sees clubs from Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, and even some European clubs taking a look at some of our players and upsetting them, with the draw of playing in bigger leagues and picking up bigger pay packets convincing them that they want to leave so hopefully, we can once again fend these vultures off! Career Summary Club Season Club League Pos. Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th - 2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd - 2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2030/31 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners 2032 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd FA Cup Winners 2033 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners 2034 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Super Cup Winners 2035 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners 2036 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd ACL Winners, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners International Season Country Competition Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030 Hong Kong - - 2031 Hong Kong - - Honours Asian Champions League - 2029/30, 2035/36 Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27, 2033/34 Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Chinese Super League - 2033, 2034, 2035 Chinese FA Cup - 2032, 2033, 2035, 2036 Chinese Super Cup - 2033, 2034, 2035, 2036

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2036 A slightly better than usual youth intake as Lyu Jiajie (36A), Li Hui (36B), Sun Hongyang (36F), Wang Hongxu (36M), Cui Xiaolin (36O) and Li Yuhang (36P) were all offered contracts, with Li Yuhang (36P) looking as if he could have a bright future. Lyu Jiajie (36A) Li Hui (36B) Chen Gang (36C) Huang Yang (36D) Li Kun (36E) Sun Hongyang (36F) Li Yang (36G) He Xiang (36H) Lin Qiang (36I) Wan Xinyu (36J) Yang Jiahao (36K) Du Yi (36L) Wang Hongxu (36M) Zhang Jingwei (36N) Cui Xiaolin (36O) Li Yuhang (36P)

Beijing Gu'aon - Title race 2036 It's not often that I update about a title race, most probably because in recent years we've been head and shoulders above our nearest challengers, but as I mentioned in last seasons end of season update, with both Shenhua and Shanghai improving their squads during the close season, this season could prove to be one of the toughest league campaigns yet...and it's seeming to be just that! With just 5 league games remaining, we're currently 4 points behind Shanghai with both of us looking unbeatable at the minute. We'll need Shanghai to drop some points though if we're going to have any chance of retaining our league title, but with a favourable looking fixture list for Shanghai, that's looking unlikely. We've got some favourable looking fixtures too, on paper, so we have to make sure that we win our games first and foremost, and then hope that Shanghai drop points.

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2036 League expectation Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1st (out of 16) Cup expectations Asian Champions League: Reach the knockout stages. Asian Chinese FA Cup: Win the Chinese FA Cup. Chinese Super Cup: Not important. Transfer budget: £45 million (last season £36 million) Wage budget: £550k (last season £482k p/w) Current wage bill: £335k (last season £358k p/w) Season tickets sold: 43,784 (last season 43,784) My views for the season ahead: As is the norm now, winning the league and the Chinese FA Cup is the minimum expectation this season, whilst we’re also expected to reach the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League, which we’ve already done after topping Group J at the end of last season. Given that we lost Juan Carlos Salazar last season, I felt that we needed some depth on the wing, so I’ve brought in another Colombian in the form of Juan Carlos Aguirre on a free transfer from Atletico Bucaramanga, as well as young goalkeeper Ji Xun from Guangzhou for £300k.

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2035 Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: We claimed our 3rd league title in 3 years after going the whole league campaign unbeaten and finishing 10 points clear of challengers Shanghai. Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group J: Following on from our Asian Champions League campaign that started last season, the knockout stages saw us scrape by in both the 2nd round, and the Quarter Final before South Korean side Jeonbuk sent us packing in the Semi Final after beating us 4-3 on aggregate. We’ve started the new ACL campaign very strongly and topped our group with 5 wins and a draw with 2 of those wins most notably coming against my former club South China. With us topping our group, we’ll have to wait and see who we get in the knockout round when the new season starts. Chinese Super Cup: The season opener saw us comfortably dispose of fierce local rivals Shenhua as goals from Guilherme Toda and Gerson Bouth was enough for us to beat them 2-0 and take the early season bragging rights. Chinese FA Cup: After crashing out of the Chinese FA Cup last season at the Semi Final stage, I was wanting to get our name back on the trophy this season. A 4th round draw against rivals Shanghai looked as if it’d be another year without the FA Cup but thankfully, we managed to progress on penalties before a relatively straight forward remaining route saw us beat CZ Mighty Lions 10-0 on aggregate in the final. Transfers: Just the one player came through the doors at the start of the season as Jin Yongxin joined us from rivals Shanghai for £2.1 million, whilst we raised over £10 million in player sales as most notably, Juan Carlos Salazar left for Saudi Arabia in a £9 million deal. It was disappointing to see him leave but he was whinging about leaving and I’ve got no intention of keeping players that want to leave. Squad: Another great season for the players and without the risk of sounding like a stuck record, it was Gerson Bouth who once again shone as he smashed in an incredible 59 goals in 47 games, taking him up to 126 league goals in just 109 league appearances since joining in 2032! Needless to say, he once again claimed the Chinese Super League Golden Boot award for a 4th successive year as well claiming the Chinese Player of the Year award for a 2nd time. Zhang Jiawei also had a brilliant season as he chipped in with 9 goals, as well as picking up the Chinese Best Under 23 Player award and the Chinese Super League Most Popular Domestic Player award whilst Du Hong also hit double figures for the season. Finances: Looking very healthy as we made a tidy profit thanks to some player sales. My views of the season: Another season of domestic domination for us as we claimed the Chinese Super League, the Chinese FA Cup, and the Chinese Super Cup. We’re also progressing well in the Asian Champions League as we came close to reaching the Final this year, so I’m hopeful that we can go one step closer next year and actually make the Final. That’s definitely where the challenge lies though as whilst the majority of the bigger Asian clubs are pretty well matched, the Saudi clubs are on a different level and it’s not until the Final in which you meet the Saudi clubs. Gerson Bouth continues to be a goal machine as he smashed in a record 59 goals this season as interest in his services continue to grow with a number of Saudi clubs sniffing around him, so I’ll be hoping I can keep hold of him. My aims for next season: Anything other than retaining the title isn’t even acceptable now as we’re expected to win the league next season. With both Shenhua and Shanghai improving their squads as well during the end of season break, I think next season may well be the toughest league campaign yet. The Chinese Super Cup and FA Cup aren’t viewed as important by the chairman anymore so this may give me a chance to field some of the youngsters, but there’s no doubting that the next challenge is for us to win Asian Champions League. In the 11 seasons that I’ve had in this save so far, I’ve only managed to claim the Asian Champions League trophy once so it’s something that I’m really wanting to win whilst I’m at Beijing. As I mentioned though, whilst the majority of the bigger Asian clubs are pretty well matched, the Saudi clubs are on a different level and it’s not until the Final in which you meet the Saudi clubs so it’s going to be difficult to try and beat them in the Final, if we can make it to the Final that is! Career Summary Club Season Club League Pos. Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 South China HK Premier League 4th - 2025/26 South China HK Premier League 2nd - 2026/27 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2027/28 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2030/31 South China HK Premier League 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners 2032 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd FA Cup Winners 2033 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners 2034 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Super Cup Winners 2035 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners International Season Country Competition Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030 Hong Kong - - 2031 Hong Kong - - Honours Asian Champions League - 2029/30 Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27, 2033/34 Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Chinese Super League - 2033, 2034, 2035 Chinese FA Cup - 2032, 2033, 2035 Chinese Super Cup - 2033, 2034, 2035

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2035 A decent-ish youth intake this season as Tan Wentao (35D), Luo Tao (35E), and Zhao Yue (35H) look promising prospects and were offered contracts. The remaining 13 youth candidates were all released. Shang Jinyu (35A) Fu Ke (35B) Wei Hang (35C) Tan Wentao (35D) Luo Tao (35E) Tang Jiangshan (35F) Zhang Jiaming (35G) Zhao Yue (35H) Li Xiaoxuan (35I) Fu Wenbin (35J) Du Junjie (35K) Song Yi (35L) Fan Yan (35M) Ding Hui (35N) Jia Yuchen (35O) Zheng Boyu (35P)

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2035 League expectation Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1st (out of 16) Cup expectations Asian Champions League: Reach the knockout stages. Asian Chinese FA Cup: Win the Chinese FA Cup. Chinese Super Cup: Not important. Transfer budget: £36 million (last season £30.7 million) Wage budget: £482k (last season £431k p/w) Current wage bill: £358k (last season £277k p/w) Season tickets sold: 43,784 (last season 24,352) My views for the season ahead: Winning the league and Chinese FA Cup seem to be a given now as the board and the media are expecting us to retain the title. After last year’s exit in the Chinese FA Cup at the Semi Final stage, it’d be nice to try and put that right, so I’ll be aiming to put our name back on the cup this season. The season opener Chinese Super Cup is no longer important, and we’re expected to reach the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League, which we’ve already done after topping our group last season. We must be doing something right as season ticket sales have taken an enormous jump as we’ve gone from 24,352 holders to 43,784 holders! I’ve tried to streamline the squad a little this year too as we’ve let 5 players leave for a total of £1.3 million while we’ve brought in a bit of extra quality at the back as Jin Yongxin joins us from rivals Shanghai for £2.1 million.

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2034 Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: After claiming the clubs first league title in 8 years last season, we retained our league title with relative ease as we finished an impressive 15 points clear of runners-up, and local fierce rivals, Shenhua. Rongcheng were the only team to beat us in the league this season, although Shenhua did come close to beating us. Given Shenhua’s rise this season, and the fact that they’re our fierce local rivals, it could shape up to become one of the best rivalries in the Super League over the next few years. Asian Champions League/Asian Champions League Group J: After crashing out of the Asian Champions League at the playoff stages last season, we automatically qualified for the group stage this season. We had a fortunate draw in the group stage as there was only really Suwon who looked strong enough to beat us. Needless to say, we topped our group and will carry on in the knockout stages next season as the Chinese Super League season runs from April to November, whilst the Asian Champions League runs from September to May. Asian Confederation Cup: We continued our Asian Confederation Cup journey on from last season where we easily qualified from the group. As I mentioned last season, we could’ve done without being in this competition really as we’re probably levels above some of the teams in this competition and that showed as we demolished North Korean side Rimyongsu 15-0 on aggregate in the East Asian Zone Final. A further 13-0 aggregate win over Sagadam in the Interzone Playoff Semi Final and a 7-2 aggregate win over Persik in the Interzone Playoff Final meant that we faced Tishreen in the final. It wasn’t as comprehensive as other rounds have been, but a 4-2 win was enough to claim the clubs first ever Asian Confederation Cup, and my second after winning it with South China in 2029/30. Chinese Super Cup: A resounding 4-0 over rivals Shanghai in the season opener saw us retain the Chinese Super Cup. Chinese FA Cup: The board were expecting us to retain the FA Cup this year and after straight forward wins in the 4th round, 5th round, and Quarter Final, it looked as if a win would follow in the Semi Final. Shandong had other ideas though and beat us 2-1 in the Semi Final. They went on to lose in the final to our local fierce rivals, Shenhua. Transfers: Our activity in the transfer market came at the start of the season as Zhang Jiawei joined us from Changchun for £2.2 million and Colombians Juan Moreno and Juan Carlos Salazar joined us on free transfers from Atletico Nacional and Deportivo Cali respectively. Out the door saw Jose Ribamar leave for South Korean side Seoul for £250k and Bebeto leave for BAH on a free transfer, after he followed me from South China. These two left to make space for our two Colombians who joined us due to the limit on the number of foreign players that we’re allowed to have. Squad: Another brilliant season for the players, and as usual, Gerson Bouth was the standout player. Although his stats say that he scored an impressive 37 goals in 35 games, the stats on the squad screen show that he scored 46 goals in 40 games. I assume this discrepancy is due to us playing in the Asian Confederation Cup over two seasons, but I’ll stick with 46 goals in 40 games as it obviously sounds more impressive! He also claimed the Chinese Super League Golden Boot award again whilst also making it into the Chinese Super league Team of the Year. Zhang Jiawei had a great debut season for us as he scored 5 goals as well as claiming the Chinese Super League Young Player of the Year award, whilst Hong Long claimed the Chinese Super League Best Under 23 player award. It wasn’t all plain sailing though as a few players became disgruntled throughout the season after I rejected offers from Saudi clubs for them, most notably Mitsuo Fukano, Gao Gang, and Gerson Bouth. It’s for this reason as to why Du Hong scored so many goals as whilst Gerson Bouth was off spitting his dummy out, I started Du Hong in the matchday squads, and he certainly showed what an accomplished striker he is as he hit 32 goals for the season. As I said, Mitsuo Fukano and Gao Gang also has strops, but it didn’t stop them scoring 24 goals between them. They all seem to be settled again now but I’m sure it’ll all start again when we enter January, and the transfer window opens again. Finances: Nothing to worry about here as we made a £4.7 million profit this year. My views of the season: I can have no complaints as we retained our league title, won the Chinese Super Cup and won the Asian Confederation Cup, whilst also qualifying for the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League that’ll continue next season. The only disappointment was our loss in the FA Cup Semi Final and this seems to have had an effect on my standing within the club, and supporters as I’m ranked as ‘B-‘ by both the club and supporters. I knew expectations were high this season but come on, having won the league, the Chinese Super Cup, and the Asian Confederation Cup this season, I’d expect a little more understanding. I suppose this is what comes when you’re at a big club like Beijing. My aims for next season: The board are expecting the same as they did this season as they’re expecting us to win the league, the Chinese FA Cup and the Chinese Super Cup whilst also making it to the Asian Champions League knockout stages. Given the effect that losing in the Semi Final of the Chinese FA Cup had on my standing within the club and supporters, I think anything other than wining the league could potentially cost me my job. Not sure I enjoy that kind of pressure. Career Summary Club Season Club League Pred. Pos. Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 South China HK Premier League 7th 4th - 2025/26 South China HK Premier League 7th 2nd - 2026/27 South China HK Premier League 4th 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2027/28 South China HK Premier League 3rd 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2030/31 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners 2032 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd 2nd FA Cup Winners 2033 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners 2034 Beijing Chinese Super League 1st 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Super Cup Winners International Season Country Competition Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030 Hong Kong - - 2031 Hong Kong - - Honours Asian Champions League - 2029/30 Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27, 2033/34 Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Chinese Super League - 2033, 2034 Chinese FA Cup - 2032, 2033 Chinese Super Cup - 2033, 2034

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2034 Not a spectacular youth intake for this season, despite us having an excellent youth recruitment network. Sun Xiang (34A), Lian Guangliang (34E), Liu Zhen (34H), and Li Zhinglin (34J) were all offered contracts. The remaining 12 youth candidates were all released. Sun Xiang (34A) Liu Shengyu (34B) Ma Xiaolong (34C) Xiong Tao (34D) Lian Guangliang (34E) Yang Chao (34F) Wu Jiayi (34G) Liu Zhen (34H) Luo Qun (34I) Li Zhonglin (34J) Liu Jian (34K) Liu Pengyu (34L) Lu Jiaqi (34M) Zhang Jinghao (34N) Liu Song (34O) Rong Hongye (34P)

Beijing Gu’aon – Pre-season 2034 League expectation Chinese Super League: Board expectation – Win the league : Media expectation – 1st (out of 16) Cup expectations Asian Champions League: Reach the group stages. Asian Confederation Cup: Win the Asian Confederation Cup. Asian Chinese FA Cup: Win the Chinese FA Cup. Chinese Super Cup: Win the Chinese Super Cup. Transfer budget: £30.7 million (last season £27.4 million) Wage budget: £431k (last season £382k p/w) Current wage bill: £277k (last season £248k p/w) Season tickets sold: 24,352 (last season 23,573) My views for the season ahead: Expectations have certainly been raised this season as we’re expected to win the league, win the Asian Confederation Cup, win the Chinese FA Cup and win the Chinese Super Cup…so basically, we’re expected to win everything except the Asian Champions League, where we’re only expected to make the group stages, which we’ll do as we automatically qualify for the group stages after winning the league last season. No pressure at all then! To try and help us achieve those expectations, we’ve brought in 3 players as Zhang Jiawei joins us from Changchun for £2.2 million and Colombians Juan Moreno and Juan Carlos Salazar join us on free transfers from Atletico Nacional and Deportivo Cali respectively.

Beijing Gu’aon – End of season 2033 Chinese Super League/Chinese Super League progress/Chinese Super League fixtures: A quite phenomenal season for us as we romped home to the title after winning 29 games out of 30, drawing just one game! The media were predicting us to finish 2nd again whilst the board were wanting a top 4 finish again so to win the title in such emphatic fashion is very pleasing, and surprising. Shanghai were the only team to take points off us this season as we also scored over 100 goals and conceded just 13! Asian Champions League: After finishing 2nd in the league last season, we qualified for the ACL playoffs where we drew J1 League side Urawa Reds. I was quietly optimistic of progressing to the group stage, but we just never turned up as Urawa dominated us from the 1st minute to last minute as we lost 2-1 in the East Playoff. Asian Confederation Cup fixtures/Asian Confederation Cup East Asian Zone Group I: Our loss to Urawa Reds in the Asian Champions League East Playoff meant that we were automatically put into the Asian Confederation Cup. If I’m honest, we could’ve done without being in this competition as we’re probably levels above some of the teams in this competition and that has shown so far as we’ve pummelled the teams in our group, easily topping our group, and even smashing in 12 goals in one game past Macau minnows Associacao Desportiva Ka I. As the Chinese Super League runs from April to November though, our ACC journey will continue next season where we’ve drawn North Korean side Rimyongsu Sports Group in the East Asian Zone Final. Chinese Super Cup: As we were FA Cup winners last year, we met last season’s Chinese Super League winners Shanghai in the season opener where a goal fest that saw 7 goals scored went our way as a 4-3 win was enough for us to claim our first piece of silverware for the season. Chinese FA Cup: Other than a scare against Chinese First Division side Ji’nan Xingzhou in the 5th round, it was a fairly straight forward journey for us as we retained our FA Cup thanks to a 6-2 aggregate win against Changchun. Transfers: As mentioned in the pre-season update, we brought in 5 players as Ni Jinqing and Guilherme Toda joined us from Shanghai Port for a combined fee of £1.4million, Liu Yi joined us from rivals Shenhua on a free transfer, Li Ming joined us from Henan for £1.4 million, and Mitsuo Fukano joined us from Japanese side Iwata for £3million. Squad: A quite incredible season for the players as they lost just one game and drew one game all season! Much of that was down Gerson Bouth who is rapidly becoming a wanted man as he smashed in an unbelievable 40 goals in 36 games. As I mentioned last season, I was disappointed to lose him the way I did when I was at South China so to have him back now at Beijing really is a huge positive. There are a few Saudi clubs sniffing around him though so I’m hoping he isn’t tempted by their lucrative offers. Bouth also claimed the Chinese Super League Player of the Year award as well as the Chinese Super League Golden Boot award for a second successive season. Gerson Bouth’s strike partner also had a fine season as he scored 25 goals with most of them coming off the bench whilst Guilherme Toda also hit double figures as he grabbed 14 goals. Yao Qi had a great season as grabbed 16 goals as well as the Chinese Super League Most Popular Domestic Player award, whilst Mitsuo Fukano and Gao Gang also got in on the goal scoring action as they scored 24 goals between them. Finances: Even with a £22.9 million loss this year (£20 million was on players), we’re still looking financially healthy as we have almost £40 million in the bank with a guaranteed £30 million for transfer’s next season. My views of the season: A phenomenal season for us as we romped home to claim the clubs first league title in 8 years, and only the clubs 3rd league title in their history. To finish so far ahead of Shanghai and Roncheng, who have dominated the league over the last 7 years, so quickly into my tenure shows just how far this squad have come in such a short space of time. As well as claiming the league title, we also claimed the Chinese Super Cup and the Chinese FA Cup so to clean up domestically shows how dominant we were. It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns though as we slipped up in the Asian Champions League playoff game against Urawa Reds as we just didn’t show up which has meant that we now find ourselves in the Asian Confederation Cup. As I mentioned, we could do without being in this competition really as we’re levels above most teams and that showed as we scored 40 goals in our 6 group games that have left us facing North Korean side Rimyongsu Sports Group in the East Asian Zone Final. Still, I suppose it’s an opportunity to claim some more silverware to add to the cabinet. My aims for next season: Expectations have certainly been increased for next season as we’re expected to retain our league title, the FA Cup, and the Chinese Super Cup! Given our dominance this season, I have no doubts that we can challenge again but the pressure is most definitely on us now. Whilst the squad is obviously one of the strongest in the league now, I think we still need to look at making a couple of additions, just to keep things fresh and maintain a competitiveness for places. We’ll also have our remaining games in the Asian Confederation Cup to play as we’ve progressed to the latter stages now. Without being too disrespectful to the competition and the clubs involved in it, we should really be winning this competition, even if it is a bit of a hindrance for us. Career Summary Club Season Club League Pred. Pos. Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024/25 South China HK Premier League 7th 4th - 2025/26 South China HK Premier League 7th 2nd - 2026/27 South China HK Premier League 4th 1st League Champions, ACC Winners, Senior Shield Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2027/28 South China HK Premier League 3rd 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2028/29 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2029/30 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, ACL Winners, Senior Shield Winners, FA Cup Winners, Sapling Cup Winners 2030/31 South China HK Premier League 1st 1st League Champions, Senior Shield Winners 2032 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd 2nd FA Cup Winners 2033 Beijing Chinese Super League 2nd 1st League Champions, FA Cup Winners, Super Cup Winners International Season Country Competition Achievements ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030 Hong Kong - - 2031 Hong Kong - - Honours Asian Champions League - 2029/30 Asian Confederation Cup - 2026/27 Hong Kong Premier League - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong FA Cup - 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Hong Kong Senior Shield - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30, 2030/31 Hong Kong Sapling Cup - 2026/27, 2027/28, 2028/29, 2029/30 Chinese Super League - 2033 Chinese FA Cup - 2032, 2033 Chinese Super Cup - 2033

Beijing Gu’aon – Youth intake 2033 A steady youth intake as Xing Rui (33E), Zheng Bo (33H), Cai Feng (33J), Zhou Bin (33K) and Cui Bin (33L) were all offered contracts. The remaining 11 trialists were all released. Liu Tao (33A) Tian Junwei (33B) Sun Yaohui (33C) He Lei (33D) Xing Rui (33E) Li Bo (33F) Quan Yongsheng (33G) Zheng Bo (33H) Lin Yuxuan (33I) Cai Feng (33J) Zhou Bin (33K) Cui Bin (33L) Liu Xin (33M) Du Junchen (33N) Zhang Chao (33O) Lyu Zhan (33P)