Having donned the colors of the Kitchee first team and the Hong Kong Representative Team at the tender age of sixteen, Chan Shinichi’s undeniable potential has long been recognized.

The Kitchee young gun has continued his rise to stardom lately by putting together a string of solid performances on the pitch, eventually leading to the midfielder being named as the BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League MVP (September and October 2020), co-chosen by The Football Association of Hong Kong, China and the Hong Kong Sports Press Association.

Handled by a gradual, step-by-step approach from the Kitchee coaching staff, Chan only appeared in three Hong Kong premier league fixtures before the league was forced to come to a halt in March. In fact, most of Chan’s game-action in the first half of the season actually came from the Sapling Cup group stage.

However, with the Hong Kong premier league season restarting in September, Chan started to see increased game-action for Kitchee, as the youngster appeared in all six of Kitchee’s matches in September and October, including all five of the team’s crucial premier league fixtures in the title run-in, eventually contributing to Kitchee recapturing the premier league championship.

In addition, Chan also played a prominent role in the Sapling Cup final, helping Kitchee to come out on top, while being named as the MVP of the finale, once again earning recognition from those in the football industry.

Despite fighting off a host of other Hong Kong premier league players and taking home the September and October MVP silverware, Chan believes he is still very much a work-in-progress and will not be resting on his laurels.  

“Being named as the monthly MVP is a great source of encouragement,” claimed the eighteen year-old.

“However, my professional football career is practically just starting out, I know I need to improve on a lot of aspects in my game, hence I will not be satisfied with these awards. As a matter of fact, this will only spur me on to keep on improving. Hopefully, I can continue my football growth and continue to progress ahead.”

Chan, who has appeared for Kitchee in the AFC Champions League preliminary stage and the AFC Cup group stage previously, is also eagerly anticipating the arrival of next season’s regional competition, hoping to further showcase his talent.

“Regardless of one’s age, every professional footballer strives to compete against the best opponent on the biggest stage, hoping to see how he or she measures up against the best,” Chan explained.

“Despite my young age, I share the same mindset as my teammates, as I want to represent Kitchee in the highest possible level and fight for the best possible results, hoping to repay the long-standing support of the Kitchee faithful.”