Former Nine Stripe Estevez-Tsai Lands In Hong Kong Premier League

Hong Kong Premier League team Eastern Sports Club has announced the capture of former York United midfielder Emilio Estevez-Tsai, who will don the number ten at Mong Kok Stadium.

The move comes just a few months after Edmonton’s own Matt Lam departed from the club.

Emilio’s first professional season with York United saw him amass 18 appearances for the Nine Stripes, with his first professional goal coming against the Halifax Wanderers.

Estevez-Tsai was part one of the first Canadian Premier League athletes to earn a transfer fee abroad, though the youngster’s career has taken a few twists and turns since then: after making a case for himself in the inaugural York United squad, he finally broke through with the Taiwan national team and was later sold to Dutch top flight side ADO Den Haag for an undisclosed fee.

After struggling to break through in the Netherlands, however, Estevez-Tsai was quietly released and landed with Spanish fourth division side Ourense CF last year. That summer would see him return to hometown Toronto, where the midfielder spent some time training with York United to stay fit ahead of Taiwan’s participation in the Asian Cup qualification playoffs.

Estevez-Tsai has earned eight caps with the Taiwanese national team thus far, with his last appearances coming in last October’s back-to-back Asian Cup playoff losses to Indonesia.

A likely move to club football in Asia began with a training stint at Guangzi Pingguo this summer, with the Taiwanese international now set to test himself in the Hong Kong Premier League instead. Known as a highly technical midfielder with fast feet, it’ll be interesting to see how he performs with a club that once graced the AFC Champions League.