Chenjie Zhu

Zhu Chenjie became the youngest player ever to start a match for Shanghai Shenhua when he made his senior debut against Henan Jianye at 17 years and 333 days old. Within weeks he had gone further still, scoring against Guangzhou R&F to become the youngest goalscorer in the club's history and the first player born after 2000 to score in the Chinese Super League.

That early breakthrough followed a well-worn path through the Genbao Football Base in Chongming, where he trained before Shenhua bought out his entire under-19 squad in March 2018. He has stayed at the club ever since, establishing himself as a centre-back and going on to make 149 appearances and score 11 goals, with two Chinese FA Cup titles and two Chinese FA Super Cups among his honours.

His performances for Shenhua carried over into the national team, where he debuted against the Philippines in 2019 and has since earned 42 caps, including a goal against Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifying. He captained China at the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, where the team won bronze, and had also featured at the Asian Cup and the Asian Games with the under-23 side.

His progress was interrupted in early 2025 by a serious facial injury sustained in a match against Changchun Yatai, a comminuted fracture of the left maxillary sinus wall with a zygomaticofrontal suture separation. He chose conservative treatment over surgery to protect his long-term career, a decision that cost him involvement in China's qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup. The injury came at a point where he had been carrying roughly 70% of Shenhua's defensive workload, underlining how central he had become to the side before the setback.