Liu Chengyu Was Not Sent Down; Asian Champions League Window Brings His CSL Return After 105 Days

On the evening of September 6, 2026, during Shanghai Shenhua's away match against Chongqing Tonglianglong in the 26th round of the Chinese Super League, the game reached the 82nd minute when 20-year-old forward Liu Chengyu came on as a substitute for foreign player Asue. It was his first appearance in an official CSL match after 105 days.

Previous rumors that he had been frozen out by the club, suffered a major decline in form, or was about to be sent to the reserve team were all overturned after this appearance and the subsequently announced U20 squad reinforcement notice.

Since Shenhua's home match against Shenzhen Peng City on May 24, which ended in a 1-2 defeat, Liu Chengyu had not appeared on the first-team official match roster. During the three-month gap, speculation about his situation and condition never stopped.

Some reports claimed he was internally suspended by then-head coach Slutsky after making a costly back-pass mistake against Shandong Taishan. Some fans also believed that with Shenhua's crowded foreign-player attacking line, he had completely lost his place and could not even guarantee regular first-team training.

It was not until September 5, when Shanghai Shenhua's U20 team competition roster was temporarily adjusted, that Liu Chengyu appeared on the three-player list added to support the youth team. Outside opinions immediately suggested that the national-team forward had been sent down to the youth side, with almost no one connecting the reinforcement move with his CSL return the following day.

According to publicly available competition information, the third stage of Group A in the 2026 Chinese Youth Football League Men's U20 division runs from September 5 to November 6. The six participating teams will complete a 10-round home-and-away double round-robin schedule, with the standings directly determining whether they can obtain the key qualification to challenge for promotion to China League Two.

Before the roster adjustment, Shenhua U20 ranked first in Group A with seven wins, one draw and two losses for 22 points, already holding the strongest position in the promotion race. The club urgently added Liu Chengyu, Yang Haoyu and Wu Qipeng from the first team, while also calling up national youth goalkeeper Qin Zikai. The move was essentially a cross-level registration method to strengthen the squad and ensure competitiveness at a crucial stage, rather than the misunderstood sending down of first-team players.

In fact, the youth-team support arrangement never cut Liu Chengyu's connection with first-team training from the beginning.

Throughout September, his daily training remained primarily with Shenhua's first team. Only when the U20 team needed him for key matches would he temporarily join the youth squad, balancing the club's youth competition results with maintaining his own competitive condition.

This arrangement also explains why he appeared on the U20 reinforcement list on September 5 and was able to immediately sit on the CSL bench the next day, completing his official match return after more than three months.

Liu Chengyu's career path followed a very impressive upward curve during the 2025 season.

That year, he made 28 CSL appearances for Shenhua, started nine times, accumulated 702 minutes and scored five goals. He was one of the most outstanding U20 domestic forwards in the league that season and earned a place in the senior national team through his consistent league performances, making an appearance in the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. At the time, many fans viewed him as the most promising local attacking successor from Shenhua's youth system.

After entering the 2026 season, his appearance statistics declined significantly. He made only 15 CSL appearances during the year, with four starts and 413 total minutes. His aerial duel success rate dropped from 45.2% last year to 16.2%, and fluctuations in performance combined with a long-term waist injury further reduced his playing time.

During Slutsky's later period as head coach, Shenhua successively brought in several foreign forwards including Laton, Sholao Mineiro and Makta Gaye. Along with the returning form of Asue, the foreign attacking group almost completely occupied the starting positions, greatly squeezing the space available for young domestic forwards.

After Slutsky left, new head coach Milos Milojovic took charge of the team. In his first few matches, Liu Chengyu still failed to make the squad list, further increasing outside speculation that he had been abandoned by the club.

It was not until the match against Chongqing Tonglianglong, when a 3-0 lead allowed the team to bring on young players to maintain match rhythm, that Liu Chengyu finally received his first official playing time after returning.

After the match, Milojovic clearly stated at the press conference that Liu Chengyu was still in the process of recovering his match feeling and physical confrontation rhythm. The upcoming AFC Champions League Two matches would be an important opportunity for him to compete again for a regular rotation role.

On September 17, Shanghai Shenhua will host Singapore's Tampines Rovers in the AFC Champions League Two. At that time, some key foreign players may face suspensions or injury adjustments, and the shortage of attacking options could provide Liu Chengyu with consecutive playing opportunities.

Training with the first team for CSL and Asian competition preparation while also supporting the U20 team in its push for China League Two qualification when needed is an arrangement that better fits his current recovery rhythm than simply leaving him on the first-team bench for a long period or sending him out on loan for development.

The outside judgment that he had been sent down or abandoned was essentially based only on a single piece of roster adjustment information, without seeing the club's complete cross-level coordination plan.

Is it necessary to organize Liu Chengyu's key data from the 2025 and 2026 seasons in the article into a clear comparison table for future content development?