Honduran striker Saul Martinez has made an unexpected return to his former club Shanghai Shenhua on Thursday while star defender Du Wei was abruptly demoted to the reserves team.

Veteran Martinez, a key member of Shenhua's victorious Division A campaign in 2003 and the joint best scorer the same season, rejoined the club on loan from Honduran side Motagua.

It is Martinez' second stint with Shenhua after spending four years in Shanghai from 2002 to 2005.

He abruptly resigned from the club to ply his trade with Japanese side Omiya Ardija in the J-League but came back just months later and joined Shenhua's then rival Shanghai United FC midway through last season.

"He has been in fine nick in the Honduran domestic league, scoring a string of goals," said Zhang Defa, Martinez' manager, who is also an adviser to Shenhua's tycoon owner Zhu Jun.

"I am confident that he will be able to give a boost to the beleaguered team," Zhang added.

Zhu bought out the controlling stakes in Shenhua two months ago and merged the club with United.

But the new outfit - with a new coach at the helm - has struggled right from the start, managing only one win out of four games so far, including defeats in the Asian Champions League.

There are strong rumors of internal dissent within the side, and one of the victims of the fallout apparently is Chinese international Du.

The official version for his demotion is his lack of match-fitness but insiders in the know of things insist that Du was punished as he was seen to be the leader of the "Shenhua camp" at loggerheads with United newcomers after the merger.

Shanghai will host Wuhan Guanggu on Sunday when the Chinese Super League resumes action after a two-week hiatus following the national team's friendly schedule.

(Shanghai Daily March 30, 2007)