The East Stand | Wu Lei: Wolves, Watford or Besiktas – what next for China’s in-demand star?
- China forward, described as a ‘money-printing machine’ after 18 months in La Liga with relegated Espanyol, linked with transfer
- Proven opportunity to strengthen ties with Chinese fans and companies makes signing potentially lucrative
With a 0-0 draw against Celta Vigo, Espanyol’s La Liga season is over. The question now is whether Chinese superstar Wu Lei has played his final game for the club.
With the Barcelona-based side already confirmed as La Liga’s bottom team and condemned to second tier football next season, there was little to play for in their final game and Wu came closest to scoring with a goal chalked off in first-half stoppage time. He was later substituted.
During the season he performed well, when selected. He made 48 appearances in all competitions, bagging eight goals and one assist over 2,601 minutes. In La Liga he played 32 times, scoring four goals. Wu played seven times in the Europa League qualifiers, notching a goal and an assist, and then seven more games in the Europa League proper, scoring once. In the Copa del Rey he scored twice across three games.
All in all, since his arrival in January 2019, Wu played 63 times – a more impressive feat as he arrived at the end of the CSL season rather than the middle – and scored 11 goals.
