Junshuai Liu

Liu Junshuai's route to Chinese professional football ran through Portugal. As a teenager he joined the Chinese Football Association's "Project 2011", which sent him to play youth football at Fátima, Alverca and Real Massamá before he moved into senior Portuguese football with Atlético Cacém and then Torreense.

He returned to China on loan at Jiangsu Suning before signing for Shandong Taishan, then known as Shandong Luneng, in February 2017. He made 69 appearances and scored twice, and won the Chinese Super League title in 2021 as well as the Chinese FA Cup in 2020 and 2021.

In April 2022 Shandong sent him out on loan to Qingdao Hainiu, then playing as Qingdao Jonoon. Liu made 31 appearances and scored six goals as the team won promotion to the Chinese Super League. He remained tied to Shandong's fortunes even while out on loan: when the delayed 2022 FA Cup final was eventually played in January 2023, he collected a third winner's medal with Shandong. He made the move to Qingdao permanent in 2023.

A centre-back by trade, Liu represented China at youth level, earning ten caps for the under-20 side in 2014 and twenty for the under-23s between 2016 and 2017, scoring once at that level. He has yet to add a senior cap for China.