OpinionFinding Wu Lei: China are starting to lay the foundations of a youth development programme, but when will it bear fruit?
The Shanghai SIPG midfielder was dubbed “China’s Maradona” aged 13 and is closing in on 10 years since his competitive debut, but who is ready to follow in his footsteps?
Wu Lei scored once again for Shanghai SIPG on Friday to cap a 4-1 win over Shijiazhuang Everbright before they take on Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.
It’s easy to forget that Wu is only 24 given that he has now played for the SIPG first team for a decade and it will be 10 years since his debut for the then third-tier side at the beginning of next month.
SIPG’s record scorer came through the ranks at Genbao, the football academy that spawned Shanghai East Asia, and it was founder Xu Genbao – the man who signed him as a 13-year-old – that said Wu will be “China’s Maradona” while the winger was still a teenager. And 10 years on that declaration seems a little strong, but he is undoubtedly the star Chinese player.
The rest of the Chinese Super League would kill for a talent such as Wu to come through their own ranks, and nowhere more so than at Guangzhou Evergrande.
WATCH Shanghai SIPG 4-1 Shijiazhuang Everbright
The champions opened the world’s largest football academy in 2012 which houses over 2,000 pupils on its 167-acre grounds and the coaching programme is delivered by Real Madrid.