Liu Ruofan (; ; born 28 January 1999) is a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

professional footballer who currently plays for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Shanghai Port.

Club career

Liu Ruofan started his football career when he join the Genbao Football Base and then moved to the

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

's youth academy in 2015. He received training with

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

's youth academy in April 2016 and

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

's youth academy in September 2016. Liu was promoted to Shanghai Shenhua's first team squad in 2017 by then manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

. On 5 May 2017, he made his debut for the club in a 3-2 loss against

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club (), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (), was a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, Guangzhou FC played its home matches at various grounds in their home city, most notably at T ...

. On 19 November 2017, he assisted

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he played for a number of L ...

's winner in the first leg of the 2017 Chinese FA Cup final against city rivals

Shanghai SIPG Shanghai Port Football Club (), previously Shanghai SIPG (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Port plays its home matches at the Pudong Football Stadium, located within Pudong. Their owners a ...

, which helped the club secure the title. He made six appearances in all competitions for the club in 2017 and won the Chinese Golden Boy award in December 2017. On 22 September 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 loss against Dalian Yifang. On 26 February 2020, Liu was loaned to

Tianjin TEDA Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (), previously Tianjin TEDA (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Tianjin, that competes in . Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at the TEDA Soccer Stadium, located within Binhai. The f ...

for the

2020 Chinese Super League The 2020 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2020 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The season was scheduled to begin o ...

season. He made his debut for the club in a league game on 27 July 2020 against Shanghai Port in a 3-1 defeat. He would be loaned out again, this time to second tier club

Chengdu Rongcheng Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, Sichuan, that competes in . Chengdu Rongcheng plays its home matches at the Phoenix Hill Football Stadium, located within Jinniu District. The club's f ...

on 13 April 2021. His debut appearance would be in a league game against Jiangxi Beidamen on 26 April 2021, in a 4-2 victory where he also scored his first goal for the club. He would go on to establish himself as an integral member within the team and aid the club to promotion to the top tier at the end of the 2021 league campaign. On 27 January 2025, Liu signed

club Shanghai Port.

International career

Liu scored four goals in three appearances during 2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualification in October 2017 as the Chinese under-20 national team qualified for the

2018 AFC U-19 Championship The 2018 AFC U-19 Championship was the 40th edition of the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. It took place in Indonesia, which was ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual

*Chinese Golden Boy: 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Ruofan 1999 births Living people Chinese men's footballers People from Nanchong Footballers from Sichuan Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Chengdu Rongcheng F.C. players Wuhan Three Towns F.C. players Shanghai Port F.C. players 21st-century Chinese sportsmen Chinese Super League players Men's association football midfielders China men's youth international footballers China men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for China