RCD Espanyol striker Wu Lei during a training session in Barcelona, Spain Photo: Yang Ruoyu/GT

As the only Chinese foobtall player who regularily appears in the lineup of a team in the European "big five" leagues, RCD Espanyol's Wu Lei is considered "the hope of the whole village" by Chinese fans. 

Since joining his team this past ­winter, Wu scored three goals in 16 games in the second half of last season, and has won the hearts of local fans. 

The Global Times found dozens of local fans shouting his name whenever Wu touched the ball during a training session at Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque in Barcelona. They also waited for him after practice to get a photo and autograph. 

Wu often gets out of his car and meets the requests of every fan. A local fan who gave his name as Ruiz said Wu is very friendly to fans. He expects Wu will score more goals and help the team win more games.

"My quick integration into the team and the impact I have made are beyond my own expectations," Wu said in an interview with the Global Times, adding that he had expected to have a lot of difficulties before he came.

"The most important thing now is to maintain the mentality I had when I first came. I hope that I can stay in the big five leagues for a long time. That will be a real success for me." 

Sophomore jinx

Although Espanyol has not won a game in the first three rounds of La Liga this season, it has already passed the qualifiers and entered the UEFA Europa League after a 12-year absense.  

Espanyol are in the same group with Russian's CSKA Moscow, Ludogorets from Bulgaria and Ferencváros from Hungary, avoiding other strong opponents from the big five leagues.

"This draw is friendly, and there is a great chance for us to enter the knockout stage," Wu said, expecting to create history with his team: Espanyol entered the Europa League final match 12 years ago but lost to Sevilla. 

Wu faces a number of challenge in the Europa League this season. He has new teammates, a new coach, and a new jersey number (24 to No.7). 

"I know I will definitely face more difficulties than the first season," Wu said, saying that fans expect him to grow, and other teams will scout him more closely and learn more about his ball-handling techniques.

Wu's family helped him a lot last season. "For me, daily life and diet are both very simple in China, so I adapt to these very quickly. However, family is very important. If I come alone, it will be very difficult." 

Wu tried his best to adjust to life in Barcelona. He told the Global Times that he is taking two Spanish lessons a week, and can understand some Spanish but it's still hard to speak. 

According to team staff, Wu chose to drive to training sessions on his own only a few weeks after he joined the team, and often takes public transportation. In March, Wu showed a photo of himself with captain Javi Lopez on his Instagram account on a street in Barcelona.

Fan pressure

The eyes of Chinese football fans are now firmly focused on Wu. Eight of the 11 televised La Liga matches with the highest audience rating in China last season involved Espanyol. 

"I thank Chinese fans very much for watching our games. Sometimes the matches were at 3 am Beijing time," Wu said, but he also hopes that fans will be calm and sensible in assessing his performance. 

Wu doesn't expects the fans to applaud him to the skies when he scores a goal, nor belittle him when he doesn't plays well in a game. "It is impossible for me to be completely free of stress. I understand the expectations of fans. I didn't expect I would have such an impact."

Confident for Qatar 2022



Wu was preparing for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Maldives along with the Chinese national team as of press time. From September to December, he will have to play at least two matches every week. 

He said it is not necessary to applaud his efforts playing for the national team. "I am a Chinese; I should play for the national team." 

He's also confident China will qualify for the 2022 World Cup. He said the near miss in the last World Cup qualifiers taught the team valuable lessons.

This time, Wu will cooperate with a familiar partner in the frontline, the Brazil-born striker Elkeson, who is also his former teammate at Shanghai SIPG. Wu said he still often chats with his former teammates at SIPG in a WeChat group. He will also send a "red packet" to the group after he scores in La Liga.

The gap



In Wu's eyes, the biggest gap between Chinese and Spanish football is the pace of the game. 

"There are so many children playing football here. They train with fast-paced confrontation from childhood. So when they grow up, they adapt to a faster pace of a match."

Wu said he watched the matches of Espanyol B team in the Spanish third division. He thinks the team could maintain a foothold in China's top flight league. 

Wu mentioned the gap between Chinese football and Japan and South Korea. There are eight Japanese players in the big five leagues. South Korea has superstars like Son Heung-min at Tottenham Hotspur. 

Wu said there are many other Japanese and Korean players playing in smaller leagues in Europe. Some of them may get cut or get no match time. However, when Japan and South Korea have a larger number of players playing in European leagues, there will be more players gaining a foothold in the lineups.

Wu hopes that more Chinese players get a chance to play in European leagues, which will help their development in a number of ways. 

"One, you are able to have match time. The second is that you really want to improve yourself and exercise yourself," he said. 

"Some players just want to go out and gain a gilded title…

"As long as you are devoted to the training culture and pace of European football, you can improve yourself very fast."