February 12 2001

Crystal Palace

Different stories are reaching us about the signing of Chinese duo Sun Jihai and Li Ming. One source claims that the deal is off because the Chinese FA are blocking the move of national team players aborad while other sources say that Palace are very near to signing Sun Jihai.

According to Planet Football web site the Chinese Football Association has announced that it is placing an embargo on national team players joining foreign clubs ahead of the 2002 World Cup.

This would mean that Sun Jihai and Li Ming, both at the moment playing for Dalian Shide and members of the Chinese national team, can not join Crystal Palace until the end of the season at the very earliest.

However, the BBC web site claim that The Eagles are very close to re-signing Sun Jihai.

Chairman Simon Jordan was quoted saying: "Sun is coming to London this week and we have already signed a £2m deal with his club Dalian.

"It looks like we're going to settle the deal once and for all. Palace fans know already what a superb player he is from his first spell."