Edgar Cardoso said Hong Kong football would rapidly develop if the city’s leading clubs joined the Chinese Super League.

The Portuguese coach has quietly parted the storm clouds that gathered over Kitchee last season, following his appointment as head coach. His team beat China League One side Guangxi Pingguo Haliao 4-1 in a mainland friendly last Saturday.

And the 41-year-old said playing mainland sides more regularly would be of great benefit to the city’s better teams.

“These opponents force us to be the best version of ourselves,” he said. “In order to develop Hong Kong football and local players, to compete in a more competitive championship would be a great idea.”

Cardoso also said his players were “in love with” the progressive, possession-hungry model he was instilling, after a “younger and more energetic” Kitchee made an encouraging start to this campaign.

“I will never give up on my methods, if you pay to watch a game, you deserve to be entertained,” added Cardoso, who previously coached youth teams at Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk, either side of six years at Qatar’s pioneering Aspire Academy.