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| | Monday, 4 March, 2002, 18:03 GMT Fan Zhiyi returns to China Fan Zhiyi only signed for Dundee five months ago Dundee's Chinese defender Fan Zhiyi has returned to his homeland after only five months at Dens Park. The player wants to play in China in the build up to this summer's World Cup and negotiations are taking place with a Shanghai club with a view to a possible loan deal. Meanwhile, his Dens Park manager Ivano Bonetti, who travelled to the Far East with Fan and chief executive Peter Marr on Monday afternoon, was busy trying to sign another Chinese player to fill the gap. Bonetti wants to sign Chinese player of the year Li Tie, who has been described by national team coach Bora Milutinovic as "irreplaceable". Bonetti and Marr are also hoping to tie up a twinning agreement with Cosco Shanghai, the club that Fan is to join ahead of the World Cup finals.
That could see more Chinese internationals coming to Scotland - and Dundee players gaining experience in the Far East. But Fan, a �350,000 signing from Crystal Palace five months ago, will not play for the Dens Park club again this season. A Dundee spokesman said: "Nothing has yet been decided about what happens after the World Cup. It is possible that he will come back but also possible that he will not." China have qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time and it was revealed that the Chinese Government had been involved in the negotiations to bring national team captain Fan back home. The Dundee spokesman continued: "The Chinese authorities have not ordered him to return but had very pleasantly made it clear to us that if their senior player and talisman would be able to play his football in China it would be appreciated.
"In addition, we hope to tie up a formal twinning agreement with the club in Shanghai and there will also be a pre-season tour to China," he concluded. Li is a 24-year-old midfielder with the Liaoning Fushun club and has already been capped 71 times for his country. Fan, who has another year on his Dens Park contract, played 18 times for Dundee and was sent off on his debut against Dundee United. | | Top Scotland stories now:  Links to more Scotland stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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