Montenegrin striker Dejan joins Beijing Guoan on 1.5-year contract

Chinese Super League (CSL) giants Beijing Guoan unveiled their new signing on Thursday, as Montenegrin striker -Dejan Damjanovic, commonly known as Dejan in China, penned a 1.5-year deal with the capital-based club.

The 32-year-old joined the CSL in -December in a two-year deal with -Jiangsu Sainty, scoring five goals in his 11 -appearances in the league.

"I was really honored when I heard Beijing was interested in me; this is a bigger club and has bigger ambition," Dejan said at a news conference.

"I have the ambition to make something good in my career, so this opportunity is a very good one for me, and I hope it's good for the club."

Guoan now are in the second place with 31 points in the 16-team league, four points behind leaders Guangzhou Evergrande. Jiangsu Sainty are three places behind Guoan.

Before stepping into the CSL, Dejan had a six-year spell at FC Seoul, where he won the Korean top-tier league title twice and won the top scorer award three times.

With Sainty, Dejan played against Guoan in April, but he failed to grab a goal and Sainty suffered a 1-0 -defeat.

Speaking of his underachievement at Sainty, Dejan said the different playing style between the Korean league and CSL made him stutter.

But Dejan, dubbed "Asia's Ibra" due to his playing style similar to Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, also -indicated his former Seoul teammate Ha Dae-sung would be very helpful for him to blend into Gregorio Manzano's team.

"I was not playing in the position I am familiar to," Dejan said. "I still need time to get accustomed to the pace, and I believe I can play in the familiar position under Manzano."

Under Spanish coach Manzano, Guoan scored only 18 goals, 19 behind defending champions Evergrande after 14 league games.

But Guoan's defenders earned much credit from fans and media alike as the team conceded only eight goals, the -lowest in the top flight.

On July 8, Guoan ended the contract with Ecuadorian scoring spearhead Joffre Guerron on mutual agreement, which fueled the rumor that Guoan were going to replace their foreign strikers.

Gao Chao, chairman of Guoan, said the coaching staff put forward the issue of changing the foreign players before the CSL's summer break.

But he didn't rule out further signings to Guoan.

It's sill two weeks before the transfer deadline," Gao said. "It -depends on the coach if we are going to make further signings."