Deng Jiefu's Path to Adulthood: From Enlightenment in Guiyang, Winning Gold for Liaoning, Now He's a Rising Star for Guoan

Reporters Wang Wei and intern Li Xin report In the first round of the new CSL season, Beijing Guoan defeated Wuhan Three Towns 2-0 away, securing a winning start to the new season. Guoan's new 18-year-old signing Deng Jiefu, wearing jersey number 47, started and played the full match, completing his professional CSL debut. In this match, this young left-back contributed 3 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 clearance in defense, effectively limiting Wuhan Three Towns' flank attacks; in offense, he timely pushed up to support, excellently completing the tasks assigned by the coach.

In the second round away match against Taishan, Deng Jiefu, who also started and played the full match, topped the CSL running distance chart with 12924 meters, surpassing Jean-Claude of Shanghai Port, Park Jin-seop of Zhejiang Team, and Zhou Dingyang of Shenzhen New Peng City, demonstrating the value of this data.

Deng Jiefu's football journey began in his hometown Guiyang, advanced through study abroad in Spain, was refined in Dalian, shone at the 15th National Games, and finally landed in the CSL with an impressive debut. There were no shortcuts along the way; each step was paved with sweat and perseverance.

Deng Jiefu's CSL debut was impressive. With Guoan's main left-back Li Lei injured, he perfectly filled the positional gap. Facing the high-intensity competition of the CSL, the 18-year-old Deng Jiefu showed no fear, even winning 5 out of 8 one-on-one duels with opponents. After the match, Deng Jiefu said he was a bit nervous during his first appearance for Guoan, but later relaxed after hearing the coach's encouragement. "I'm very happy to work with my teammates to secure an away victory, and I also thank the coach for his trust." Regarding his CSL debut, he rated himself 7 out of 10.

On the internet, many fans affectionately call Deng Jiefu the "Kirilenko" of the left flank due to his jersey number 47 and excellent defensive ability. The latter refers to the legendary defensive master who played for the NBA's Utah Jazz.

Deng Jiefu was a key target for Beijing Guoan's winter transfer window. In the announcement on January 14, Beijing Guoan evaluated Deng Jiefu: "Deng Jiefu can flexibly adapt to multiple positions on the flank. He is fast, has strong breakthrough ability, can effectively tear open opponent defenses, and create threats for the team. His defensive positioning and interception awareness are quite good, and he has strong running capacity up and down, contributing to both offense and defense." As the captain and defensive core of the Liaoning U18 men's football team, the leadership, resilience, and competitive temperament Deng Jiefu displayed at last year's 15th National Games were important reasons for Guoan Club's choice. Undoubtedly, this young 18-year-old player will be a key developing flank newcomer for Guoan.

Guoan head coach Montgomery encouraged Deng Jiefu: "Young man, don't fear mistakes, just be bold and do your thing." And young Deng truly achieved that. After the third-round home match against Shanghai Shenhua, when interviewed about topping the running chart, Deng Jiefu said: "I feel I can run quite well, and training intensity is also very high, with fast transitions." Regarding his threatening long-range shot, Deng Jiefu said: "Actually just normal performance, shoot when it's time to shoot, try it out, that's what training requires."

In 2007, Deng Jiefu was born in Guiyang, Guizhou. His football enlightenment began in childhood. Before third grade, he always treated football as a hobby, as he put it, "didn't really train football." After third grade, he transferred from Guiyang Zhongtian Beijing Primary School to Guiyang Second Experimental Primary School and began systematic professional football training. At that time, the Guizhou Renhe youth梯队 was set up at Guiyang Second Experimental Primary School.

To avoid耽误 training and studies, although Deng Jiefu's home was in Guiyang, he chose to live at school. "I'm originally from Guiyang, but I didn't live at home. From Monday to Friday after school, I trained at school, and after training there was evening self-study." Living at school, he often missed his parents. "I missed my parents so much then, crying every night. My mom would bring me some food during the evening self-study break." This boarding training experience not only honed Deng Jiefu's football foundation but also cultivated his independent, resilient, and persevering character, laying the groundwork for subsequent overseas study and adaptation to professional football.

By fifth grade, the 10-year-old Deng Jiefu participated in the Wanda "Chinese Football Hope Star" national selection competition in Langfang, Hebei. Selected by Spanish coaches, he stood out among about 4000 participating players, ranking second nationally and earning a公派 opportunity to study in Spain for 3 years. After being selected, Deng Jiefu was both excited and reluctant. "I was quite excited about such a learning opportunity, but my parents were very舍不得 me."

Deng Jiefu studied football in Spain for nearly four years, spending the first two years mainly training at Atlético Madrid Football Club and the third year at Celta de Vigo Football Club. The path of overseas study was not smooth. Due to dietary reasons, Deng Jiefu's body didn't adapt well. In 2020, the sudden COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the planned study abroad. Wanda Group had to集中 all Chinese overseas study players in hotels for封闭管理. "With the pandemic, Wanda集中 all us overseas Chinese players in a big hotel,封闭管理 every day, and also gave us training. But the pandemic was also severe then, so we hardly trained, basically staying in the hotel every day."

The regular training rhythm was被迫中断, and returning to China seemed a无奈 yet most suitable choice. According to relevant agreements signed with Wanda Group, players funded by Wanda for overseas study should优先加盟 Dalian Pro Team upon returning. "The choice given to us then was可以先回国. First give Dalian Pro Team the choice; if Dalian Pro doesn't need us, we can go to other teams." Deng Jiefu said that although he试训ed for Shanghai Port Team and Zhejiang Team after returning and gained认可, he ultimately stayed in Dalian.

Entering the Dalian Pro youth梯队, Deng Jiefu encountered his first major challenge: physical fitness. During his Spain study abroad, training focused on technique, tactics, and对抗, with less systematic physical储备; domestic youth training strongly emphasizes high-intensity running and full-field coverage capacity. The huge difference, coupled with lack of training during the COVID period, made adaptation difficult. During that time, his match playing time was limited. "After returning, my physical fitness差距很大 with these teammates, I couldn't really get playing time. And because my fitness wasn't good, the coach安排 me and another attacking midfielder to play half a match each."

Facing difficulties, Deng Jiefu did not discouraged, but chose to弥补差距 through extra training. The team's daily training was安排在下午 then, and he would主动加练 fitness in the morning. Through半年训练, Deng Jiefu's physical condition大幅提升, gradually moving from替补席 to主力位置, becoming an indispensable flank core for the team.

During these four years in Dalian youth training, Deng Jiefu随队征战 various youth competitions,经历无数硬仗洗礼. In the U15 Youth Super League, he helped the team win季军; in the U17 Youth Super League, he excelled in both offense and defense, contributing multiple goals and assists, ranking third on the scorer chart.

In 2017, Deng Jiefu participated in the national youth team selection competition,入选 the national youth team as top scorer and outstanding player, and entered the Chinese Football Association talent库. In 2024, he入选 the Chinese U17 National Men's Football Team training list in Haikou, and thereafter多次入选 national youth team training lists. Regarding his future, Deng Jiefu's goal is clear: "I want to早日 become a主力 player in the national team."

In the past period, what made Deng Jiefu known to the外界 was that in November 2025, as captain, he helped the Liaoning team win the gold medal in the U18 men's football at the 15th National Games. He recalled: "Honestly speaking, our paper实力确实没有别人那么强 then, so I initially thought reaching the semifinals was already good enough, and if we reached the semifinals we'd take step by step. After having some机会, the goal慢慢明确, definitely aiming for冠军."

Ultimately, the Liaoning team won the gold medal. Winning with zero conceded goals fully体现了 the Liaoning team's强硬防守. Deng Jiefu said: "Our goal was very明确, first做好防守. Every集训的主题 was basically围绕防守来踢." The memory of winning the National Games is unforgettable for Deng Jiefu. "The toughest matches were definitely against Jiangsu and Shandong. Because they are very攻击性强, very喜欢抢开局, so the开局节奏非常快, we had to齐心协力做好防守 to stabilize the开局."

The Liaoning U18 National Games men's football team's强大防守, where Deng Jiefu served as left-back,功不可没. But actually, he didn't start as a defender. "In primary school I played as a winger. In Spain, I played as a full-back and center-back for three years. After returning, I started playing as an attacking midfielder and winger. In 2024, I才开始确定 play as a full-back." This choice was because he noticed domestic football比较缺 left-footed full-backs, so left-back became Deng Jiefu's确定发展方向.

Regarding serving as captain for the Liaoning team at the 15th National Games, Deng Jiefu thinks the coach可能 felt he was比较沉稳. "可能 the coach saw me as比较稳. Because the coach often asked us to多讲话 on the field, other teammates in our team喊话比较少, so I喊得比较多 on the field."

A southerner serving as captain for the National Games champion Liaoning team wasn't easy, but Deng Jiefu felt没有什么违和感,反而 because his Guizhou普通话夹杂的辽宁口音 made the team atmosphere更加和谐.

Now this southern小伙子 has become a主力 player for the team in Beijing. "Deng Jiefu performed excellently; being able to perform so成熟 on the field at 19 (turning 19 in June) is难得." This is Beijing Guoan head coach Montgomery's evaluation of Deng Jiefu. This trust and肯定 also allows Deng Jiefu to尽情施展 his abilities on the CSL stage, striving to早日实现 his dream of入选 the national team.