The Chinese Super League champion defensive midfielder takes charge of the team, adding another domestic coach to China League One.

Special Contribution / Liu Zhun, Lin Shuang On the first day of 2026, Chinese football was bustling with announcements of multiple head coach appointments, particularly in China League One. Yatai revealed Yan Feng would replace Suarez, and Shaanxi United confirmed Frazer’s arrival. Indeed, many teams in China League One have already undergone coaching changes for the upcoming season.

On the last day of 2025, Yatai declared the termination of Suarez’s contract. On the first day of 2026, Yan Feng’s succession was officially confirmed, marking Yatai’s formal start on their third campaign to return to the Super League. On January 5th, Yatai will begin the second phase of winter training in Haikou, followed by friendly matches in Yunnan against several teams.

During the 2025 Chinese Super League season, Yatai struggled with financial difficulties, injuries to foreign players, and a mid-season coaching change, never managing to escape the relegation zone. As the club approached its 30th anniversary, it failed to maintain its top-tier status. For Yatai, relegation to China League One might be a relief, as in previous seasons the club had been operating on borrowed time financially until the funding chain broke in 2025, triggering a survival crisis.

For the 2026 China League One season, the club’s limited budget could not support the high salaries of Suarez’s team. Through negotiations, the club terminated the contract with the Portuguese coaching staff to ease wage pressures.

Against this backdrop, who would become Yatai’s 27th head coach naturally drew public attention. At the end of November last year, after the league ended, the club began salary reduction talks. Over ten high-paid players with expiring contracts refused pay cuts and were not offered new contracts, while those who accepted reductions received tickets to Haikou. Meanwhile, the club prepared plans to promote young players. On December 21st, Yatai gathered in Changchun to start a 10-day physical recovery training to prepare for winter training. On the first day, besides players like Tan Long, Yan Zhiyu, Sun Guoliang, Xu Yue, Xuan Zhijian, Wu Zhicheng, and Jing Boxi who played in last season’s Super League, most were U21 young players from the Scottish Premier League. Locally, homegrown talents Dong Yifan and Zhou Dadi returned.

During the first phase of winter training, Yan Feng was in charge of the team’s training, confirming earlier rumors. Who is Yan Feng? To longtime Yatai fans, he is a member of the 2007 Chinese Super League championship team, nicknamed "Little Bull." Back in 2006, Yatai’s debut season in the Super League, after the disbandment of Guancheng due to the "Shide system," Yatai urgently strengthened its squad by acquiring Yan Feng and Tang Jing from Guancheng’s player pool.

After playing four and a half seasons for Yatai, Yan Feng transferred back to his hometown club Shide in the second half of the 2010 season due to tactical disagreements with then-head coach Shen Xiangfu. In July 2013, having lost his starting position, Yan Feng returned to Yatai and witnessed two successful relegation battles over the next four and a half seasons. In the second half of 2017, he went to Germany for knee treatment and left Yatai the following year to join Shaanxi, where he retired.

As a Yatai legend, it was natural for Yan Feng to start his coaching career at his home club. He holds a professional coaching license but is still a novice in professional leagues. His biggest achievement so far was leading the Jilin U18 team to third place in the inaugural Youth Three Major Ball Sports Games in 2024. Because of this impressive result, during the gap between Xie Hui’s departure and Suarez’s appointment, Yan Feng was given the interim head coach role and led the team in a match against Henan. Additionally, in August 2025, Yan Feng joined Guangzhou Leopard as a first-team assistant coach at the invitation of his friend Feng Feng, gaining valuable professional coaching experience.

It is reported that Yatai signed Yan Feng on a 1+1 contract, and his coaching staff has gradually arrived in Changchun — Qu Gang, a Dalian native who coached Meizhou last season, was appointed team leader; Liu Zhuo serves as deputy leader; Zhang Li, Jiang Chen, and Liu Xiaodong, three coaches with professional experience, act as assistants. Additionally, Perlich, who was the fitness coach at Meizhou last season, also joined to support Yan Feng. Notably, Liu Xiaodong’s return highlights Yatai’s 30-year heritage — as a youth academy product, he rose through the ranks to the first team and became a club centurion. After retiring, he coached Changchun Women’s team and Nanjing City before returning to help rebuild his home club.

Besides Yan Feng’s appointment as Yatai’s head coach, on the same day, it was announced that Henk Frazer, former assistant coach of the Netherlands and a colleague of Chinese player Zhang Yuning, would replace Franken as head coach of Shaanxi United. Previously, Zhang Yaokun was named head coach of Dalian Kunchen, and Mao Biao took charge of Gannan Dinglian. Several China League One teams have changed coaches recently, including Meizhou Hakka, which has not yet made an official announcement but is expected to follow suit since Qu Gang has moved to Yatai.