Chen Tao to sign contract with Anderlecht-report
By Fang Xuan (www.chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-26 14:08

China's Under-21 soccer team forward Chen Tao will sign a contract with Belgian league giants Anderlecht soon, China's Sports Sina reported Wednesday.

"Though Anderlecht and Liaoning Jinde, Chen's home club, are still far apart on the issue of the 800,000-euro transfer fee, Belgian media have said Chen is very likely to sign a three- or four-year contract with the Belgian club," said the Sina report.

"Chen will join Anderlecht in a few days. He is getting closer to the Belgian league step by step," the report said.

Officials from the Liaoning Jinde club refused to comment on this news, but an official who required anonymity said, "Both sides are working hard on Chen’s transfer. In fact, the negotiations have just begun."

"Reports of Anderlecht spending 800,000 euros (US$968,194.54) at most on Chen Tao is groundless," he added.

Sources familiar with the transfer believe the report has shown the active part of Anderlecht's plan to purchase the Chinese talent. The two sides are talking about aspects of high-level cooperation, including player switches.

The payment for Chen's transfer fee has also become more flexible. Installment and players exchanges would be accepted by Shenyang Jinde, and is a top priority for the fund-strapped Anderlecht, who just spent 2.5 million euros on Argentine forward Nicolas Alejandro Frutos last month.

Chen is now in South China's Guangdong Province to prepare for the coming East Asian Games. "I haven't met with my agent, nor have I talked with him about the transfer, " Chen said.

Chen helped China's U-21 team squeeze into the quarterfinals of this summer's World Youth Championships in Holland. He scored both goals in China's 3-2 loss against Germany.