John Hou Sæter (born 13 January 1998), also known as Hou Yongyong () in China, is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Yunnan Yukun.

Club career

Early career

John Hou Sæter started his football career when he joined Rosenborg's youth academy in 2013. He made his debut for the club on 24 April 2014 in a 3–0 win against Orkla FK in the

2014 Norwegian Football Cup The 2014 Norwegian Football Cup was the 109th season of the Norwegian annual knockout football tournament. It began with qualification matches in March 2014. The first round was played 24 and 25 April 2014 and the tournament ended with the final ...

, becoming the youngest player ever to make his debut for Rosenborg aged 16 years and 101 days. He made his league debut on 28 September 2014 in a 3–0 win against Aalesund, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute. He became the youngest player ever to make his league debut for the club aged 16 years and 258 days. In August 2016, Hou Sæter signed a new two-year contract with Rosenborg before being loaned to

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

side

Ranheim Ranheim is a neighbourhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the borough of Østbyen in Trondheim Municipality. The neighbourhood is approximately to the east of the centre of Trondheim. It comprises Older ...

until the end of the 2016 season. In July 2017, Hou Sæter transferred to fellow

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

side Stabæk.

Beijing Guoan

In January 2019, Hou Sæter obtained Chinese citizenship and joined

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

. He made his debut for the club on 23 February 2019 in a 2–0 loss against Shanghai SIPG in the

2019 Chinese FA Super Cup 2019 Chinese FA Super Cup ( Chinese: 2019中国足球协会超级杯) was the 17th Chinese FA Super Cup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Chinese Super League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played b ...

, coming on as a substitute for Chi Zhongguo in the 71st minute. This made Hou Sæter the first naturalised Chinese player in China's professional leagues. On 29 May 2019, Hou scored his first goal for Guoan in a 3-1 home win against

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

in a Chinese FA Cup fifth round match. On 12 August 2020, Hou scored his first Chinese Super League goal in a 3-1 win against Hebei China Fortune. Hou Sæter left the club at the end of the 2022 season and returned to

, after his contract with Guoan had ended.

Yunnan Yukun

On 26 January 2025, Hou Sæter returned to

by joining the new promoted club Yunnan Yukun.

Personal life

Born to a Norwegian father and a Chinese mother from

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

, Hou Sæter's

Chinese name Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethni ...

is Hou Yongyong. When Hou Sæter was 10 years old, he participated in an international football competition arranged by

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He was chosen as one of 37 from a group of about 20,000 participants to come attend the finale in Manchester. He finished second in the competition and received an award from

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

, only beaten by a boy who was a year older than him. He renounced his Norwegian passport in 2019 to receive the Chinese citizenship. On 12 February 2025,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

approved his change of association from Norway to China.

Career statistics

Honours

Rosenborg *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

Individual *

Golden Boot:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

Profile
at RBK.no (archived 21 February 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hou Saeter, John 1998 births Living people Footballers from Trondheim Sportspeople from Henan Sportspeople of Chinese descent Norwegian men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen Norway men's youth international footballers 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Chinese men's footballers Norwegian people of Chinese descent Chinese people of Norwegian descent Naturalized citizens of the People's Republic of China Naturalised association football players Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in China Rosenborg BK players Ranheim Fotball players Stabæk Fotball players Beijing Guoan F.C. players Yunnan Yukun F.C. players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Chinese Super League players Men's association football midfielders