Liu Ruofan (; ; born 28 January 1999) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

professional footballer who currently plays for

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 ...

club

Wuhan Three Towns Wuhan Three Towns Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The club is based in Wuhan, Hubei and their home stadium is the ...

Club career

Liu Ruofan started his football career when he join the

Genbao Football Base Genbao Football Base (Simplified Chinese: 上海根宝足球基地) is the training ground of Shanghai Port F.C. and home to its youth academy. Located in Chongming County, Shanghai, China, the base is named after its founder and owner, Xu Genbao ...

and then moved to the

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

's youth academy in 2015. He received training with

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

's youth academy in April 2016 and

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

's youth academy in September 2016. Liu was promoted to Shanghai Shenhua's first team squad in 2017 by then manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

. On 5 May 2017, he made his debut for the club in a 3-2 loss against

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 ...

. On 19 November 2017, he assisted

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-di ...

's winner in the first leg of the

2017 Chinese FA Cup Yanjing Beer 2017 Chinese FA Cup () was the 19th edition of the Chinese FA Cup. The winner Shanghai Greenland Shenhua qualified for the group stage of the 2018 AFC Champions League. Schedule Source: Home Advantage Decision According to Chinese F ...

final against city rivals

Shanghai SIPG Shanghai Port FC (), previously named Shanghai SIPG, is a professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Pudong, Shanghai, and their home sta ...

, which helped the club secure the title. He made six appearances in all competitions for the club in 2017 and won the Chinese Golden Boy award in December 2017. On 22 September 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 loss against

Dalian Yifang Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sport ...

. On 26 February 2020, Liu was loaned to

Tianjin TEDA Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...

for the

2020 Chinese Super League The 2020 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2020 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor is Ping An ...

season. He made his debut for the club in a league game on 27 July 2020 against

Shanghai Port The Port of Shanghai (), located in the vicinity of Shanghai, comprises a deep-sea port and a river port. The main port enterprise in Shanghai, the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), was established during the reconstitution of the S ...

in a 3-1 defeat. He would be loaned out again, this time to second tier club

Chengdu Rongcheng Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, Sichuan and their home stadium is the Chengdu Phoenix Hill Football Stadium that has a seating capacity of 50,695. The club currently participates in th ...

on 13 April 2021. His debut appearance would be in a league game against Jiangxi Beidamen on 26 April 2021, in a 4-2 victory where he also scored his first goal for the club. He would go on to establish himself as an integral member within the team and aid the club to promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2021 league campaign.

International career

Liu scored four goals in three appearances during

2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualification The 2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualification was an international men's under-19 football competition to decide the participating teams for the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including ...

in October 2017 as the Chinese under-20 national team qualified for the

2018 AFC U-19 Championship The 2018 AFC U-19 Championship was the 40th edition of the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. It took place in Indonesia, which wa ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh titl ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual

*Chinese Golden Boy: 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Ruofan 1999 births Living people Chinese men's footballers People from Nanchong Footballers from Sichuan Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Chengdu Rongcheng F.C. players Wuhan Three Towns F.C. players Chinese Super League players Men's association football midfielders China men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for China