Tan Kaiyuan
Personal information
Date of birth (2001-08-19) 19 August 2001
Place of birth Qingdao, Shandong, China[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 RCD Espanyol B
Number 16
Youth career
Shandong Luneng Taishan
2012–2018 Evergrande Football School
2018–2020 Guangzhou
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Guangzhou 12 (3)
2022–2023 Guangzhou 8 (0)
2023– RCD Espanyol B 8 (0)
International career
2020 China U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 June 2023

Tan Kaiyuan (Chinese: 谭凯元; born 19 August 2001) is a Chinese footballer currently playing as a midfielder for RCD Espanyol B.

Early life

As a child, Tan took an interest in kung fu, before enrolling in a football class in order to keep fit.[3] He started playing as a goalkeeper, but instead of catching the ball like most goalkeepers, he would opt to header it instead.[3]

He studied at the Yiyang Road Primary School in Qingdao, where he found that he preferred scoring goals to saving them, and in 2012 he finished second-top scorer, and was named "Campus Football Hope Star", at a youth tournament.[4]

Club career

After noticing his son's footballing ability, Tan's father signed him up to Shandong Luneng Taishan's Luneng Football School.[3] However, due to the lack of opportunities to showcase his talent in competitions, he moved to the Evergrande Football School in 2012.[3][5] During his time in the Evergrande Football School, he was sent to Spain on a three-year study programme in 2014.[3][5]

On his return to China in 2018, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Chinese under-17 league, and was promoted to the Guangzhou Evergrande senior squad from the Guangzhou Football School.[4] He was eventually given his debut on 25 July 2020, in a 2–0 win against Shanghai Shenhua. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 Chinese FA Cup win over Henan Jianye on 18 September of the same year.[5] However, he also suffered a torn ligament injury during the game, and was side-lined for over a year.[6]

His return to the first team for the 2021 Chinese Super League season was very successful, and despite only featuring in 179 minutes of football spread over ten games, he managed to score three goals.[6] Following the expiration of his contract at the conclusion of the 2021 season, Tan travelled to Serbia to trial with Vojvodina as a free agent.[7] The trial was successful, and Tan was even included in the squad photo for the season, however Guangzhou reportedly requested ¥300,000 (€43,000) for youth training compensation, which Vojvodina were unwilling to pay.[7][8] He returned to China, and was welcomed back by his former club, going on to feature at the end of the 2022 Chinese Super League season.

On 3 February 2023, Tan moved to Spain to join RCD Espanyol, being assigned to their 'B' team.[9] The club had reportedly been scouting him since 2019, and he began officially training with the reserves later the same month.[10] On 1 April 2023, in a 3–1 Segunda Federación win over Ebro, Tan came off the bench late into the game and provided an assist for Kenneth Soler's goal - his first assist for the club.[11]

International career

Tan has represented China at under-19 level.[1]

Career statistics

As of 6 June 2023.[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Guangzhou 2020 Chinese Super League 201[lower-alpha 1]1000031
2021 1031[lower-alpha 1]0—00113
2022 802[lower-alpha 1]1—00101
Total 203420000245
RCD Espanyol B 2022–23 Segunda Federación 8000—0080
Career total 283420000325
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in the Chinese FA Cup

Honours

Guangzhou Evergrande

References

  1. 1 2 "恒大足校青训开始结硕果！首批学生正昂首登上中超舞台" [Evergrande football school youth training began to bear fruit! The first batch of students are on the stage of the Chinese Super League with their heads held high]. sports.people.com.cn (in Chinese). 30 July 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Tan Kaiyuan at WorldFootball.net
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "超新星系列（29）：坚实走好每一步的谭凯元" [Supernova Series (29): Tan Kaiyuan who takes every step firmly]. sohu.com (in Chinese). 18 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 "谭凯元资料 恒大足校出品16岁入选恒大一线队大名单" [Tan Kaiyuan's information Evergrande Football School produced a 16-year-old]. kuzq.com (in Chinese). 12 August 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "恒大青训"开花结果" 19岁小将谭凯元闪耀足协杯" [Evergrande's youth training "blossoms and bears fruit" 19-year-old Tan Kaiyuan shines in the FA Cup]. chinanews.com.cn (in Chinese). 19 September 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  6. 1 2 "独家专访谭凯元，看高效的替补"杀手"是如何炼成的" [Exclusive interview with Tan Kaiyuan to see how an efficient substitute "killer" is made]. sohu.com (in Chinese). 11 January 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. 1 2 "谭凯元回归广州 留洋大半年一秒钟没踢" [Tan Kaiyuan returned to Guangzhou and stayed abroad for more than half a year without kicking for a second]. tjyun.com (in Chinese). 7 September 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "被30万挡住了留洋路：20岁恒大前锋滞留欧洲，想踢上球太难" [Blocked by 300,000 to study abroad: the 20-year-old Evergrande striker is stranded in Europe, it is too difficult to play football]. m.thepaper.cn (in Chinese). 5 August 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "西班牙人官宣：中国球员谭凯元加盟球队" [Espanyol official announcement: Chinese player Tan Kaiyuan joins the team]. rcdespanyol.com (in Chinese). 3 February 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "谭凯元首次跟随西班牙人B队训练 并计划在西班牙读完大学" [Tan Kaiyuan trained with the Espanyol B team for the first time and plans to finish university in Spain]. sohu.com (in Chinese). 13 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "立竿见影！谭凯元替补上场贡献助攻，西班牙人3-1战胜埃布罗" [Immediate results! Tan Kaiyuan came off the bench and contributed assists, the Spaniard beat Ebro 3-1]. 163.com (in Chinese). 2 April 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  12. ↑ Tan Kaiyuan at Soccerway
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.