Li Yan (; born July 19, 1984) is a Chinese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Shanxi Longjin in the

China League Two The Chinese Football Association Division Two League (Simplified Chinese: 中国足球协会乙级联赛), or China League Two, is the third tier league of the People's Republic of China. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football As ...

Club career

Li started his senior career in 2002 with

club Guangzhou Sunray Cave Easter. He made 14 appearances in 2003 league season and moved to second tier club Guangzhou Sunray Cave in 2004, however he was often used as a substitute in the early years. He was loaned out to Guangzhou Easter's second team, which was about to participate in the 2004–05

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia. The league was formerly the highest division in Hong Kong until the formation o ...

season and returned to Guangzhou in the summer of 2005. Li scored his first goal for Guangzhou on 16 July 2005, three days before his 21st birthday. He scored the winning goal in injury time, which ensured Guangzhou win

Qingdao Hailifeng Qingdao Hailifeng F.C. (), previously named Qingdao JVC Zhengyi, Qingdao Benda and Hefei Chuangyi was a former professional association football club in the Chinese Football Association Jia League. The club was engaged in "bribery and private bus ...

2-1. In the 2007 league season

Shen Xiangfu Shen Xiangfu (; ; born May 27, 1957 in Beijing) is a Chinese football coach who is the joint manager of The Regional Preferente de la Comunitat Valenciana side Atlético Museros as well as also being a former international football player. As ...

came in as manager, which saw Li steadily established himself in Guangzhou and was a key player within the club as they went on to win the division title. Within the top tier Li adapted very well within the league and was a vital member of the team that saw Guangzhou establish themselves as regulars within the division, however at the end of the

2009 Chinese Super League The 2009 Chinese Super League season was the sixth season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League, the sixteenth season of a professional football league and the 48th top-tier league season in China. Beijing Guoan won their first eve ...

campaign it was discovered that the club had fixed a game during 2006 and were punished with relegation. Li would however remain faithful toward Guangzhou and played a key role as they immediately won promotion and the division title at the end of the 2010 league season. As this was going on the

Evergrande Real Estate Group The China Evergrande Group is the second largest property developer in China by sales. It is ranked 122nd on the ''Fortune'' Global 500. It is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and headquartered in the Houhai F ...

invested heavily within the club by bringing in Chinese international

Zheng Zhi Zheng Zhi (; born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese professional footballer and manager who played most of his career for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou F.C., becoming their captain and serving also as their caretaker manager in two stints. A ...

and South Korean international

Cho Won-Hee Cho Won-hee (, ; born 17 April 1983) is a South Korean former professional footballer, who played as a right-back or a defensive midfielder. Aside of his considerably long playing time with several teams of the K League, he also experienced sp ...

into central midfield. This would limit Li's playing time and despite being part of the team that went on to win the

2011 Chinese Super League Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

title he only played in a handful of games. Li was loaned to

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home venu ...

on 11 July 2012. He made 11 appearances for the Blues in the second half of the 2012 league season. On 9 November, Guangzhou R&F announced that they had made the move permanent with an undisclosed fee. On 21 January 2016, Li transferred to his hometown club

Baoding Yingli ETS Baoding Yingli ETS () is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Baoding, Hebei and their home stadium is the 13,000 ...

in the

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020.''

Honours

Club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

: 2007,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a pre-season association football, football competition held before the season begins in China PR, China. It is a Chinese football championship contested by the winners ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

Player profile
at 7m.cn * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Yan 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Baoding Chinese men's footballers Footballers from Hebei Hong Kong First Division League players Guangzhou F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Baoding Yingli ETS F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Chinese people