Wu lifts China's profile in Spain

Reuters

It’s been quite a while since a Chinese professional footballer playing in a foreign league has aroused so much attention at home and abroad.

But when Wu Lei stepped onto the pitch of the Camp Nou on Saturday as a 63rd minute substitute during Barcelona’s derby clash with Espanyol, over 100 football fans were cheering and calling out the Chinese international’s name in front of a big screen in a temporary venue in downtown Huangpu District — it was 40 minutes after midnight.

The match-viewing activity was jointly organized by La Liga and the CSL. At the same time, more football fans were watching the match from home and waiting for Wu’s appearance. An authorized domestic broadcaster’s data revealed that over 23.7 million people watched the match online.

“China is undoubtably the largest market for us now,” Sergi Torrents, La Liga’s managing director China, said. “We encourage our clubs to approach the Chinese league and Chinese clubs for cooperation and expand their influence. We plan to introduce more Chinese players into La Liga, but it’s not easy especially when it’s a good player, as you have to respect the willingness of both the club and the country.”

Espanyol’s Chinese president has been tracking Wu’s progress since 2015. The 27-year-old was an important member of Shanghai SIPG’s CSL title-winning side last season. But after the triumph Wu wanted to realize his dream of playing abroad and was granted permission by SIPG Group Chairman Chen Xuyuan.

Chinese football fans have very little to cheer about on a national team level but Wu has given fans something to focus on. Wu’s jersey and scarf have become bestsellers in Espanyol’s official club stores. The club will also benefit from increased sales at the ticket office and from broadcasting income. A number of Espanyol’s matches have been scheduled for an afternoon kickoff in Spain to allow more fans watch from China.

Wu is having a good run since joining the La Liga side in January, making eight appearances and becoming the first Chinese footballer to score in the Spanish top-tier league after his goal in Espanyol’s 3-1 victory over Real Valladolid on March 2. The match between Barcelona and Espanyol attracted 92,795 fans to Camp Nou — the second-highest of the season after Barca’s clash with Real Madrid.

Wu had two scoring opportunities during his brief cameo on Saturday, but Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet intervened and the Catalan giants eventually ran out 2-0 winners thanks to two late Lionel Messi goals. “We trained in a different format for the past week, and managed to play accordingly before the balance was broken by the first goal,” Wu said after the match.

For Espanyol and La Liga, Wu is the strongest connection they’ve ever had with the Chinese market. Espanyol’s training base has become a popular spot for Chinese football followers in Barcelona.

The club is working on youth-training projects in cooperation with Chinese schools and plans to open football academies in cities like Shanghai and Beijing. According to Torrents, the La Liga headquarter hosted groups of representatives from the CSL and its clubs since last year to discuss topics such as broadcasting innovation, security, financial control and the organization of the competition through the forms of summits and workshops.