"After three years, Ru 7 is back! Welcome Wu Lei home!"

　　On the 11th, on the Weibo of Shanghai Haigang Football Club, Wu Lei once again linked with the Chinese Super League.

　　The last time was January 28, 2019.

At that time, Wu Lei had just been crowned the champion of the Chinese Super League, and he also took off the "local" hat and became the top scorer of the Chinese Super League in the 2018 season.

In the Asian Cup at the beginning of that year, he also played a key role in the national football team.

　　With the dream of studying abroad, Wu Lei later became the "hope of the whole village".

　　After three and a half years, Wu Lei, who was in his thirties, returned to the Chinese Super League due to family reasons.

　　On behalf of the Spaniard, he scored 16 goals and 6 assists in 126 appearances.

For the forwards of the five major European league teams, this is not a dazzling statistic, but for Chinese players at this stage, it seems to be an unreachable upper limit for others.

　　But none of that matters.

The important thing is that the joy of staying up all night waiting for Wu Lei's game, the surprise of Wu Lei breaking the door of Barcelona, ​​and the light in the dark night of Chinese football...

　　Now, it has been buried in history.

On April 10, Beijing time, the 31st round of La Liga Espanyol played against Celta at home.

In the 89th minute, Wu Lei got the ball in the penalty area and volleyed to complete the lore.

This also became Wu Lei's last La Liga goal in his overseas career.

Image source: Visual China

Reasonable

　　The news of Wu Lei's return to the Chinese Super League has been fermenting for a long time.

　　On July 28, Spanish media reported that Wu Lei would return to the Chinese Super League team Shanghai Seaport.

A reporter from Chinanews.com also learned on the same day that Wu Lei does have the will to return to China to play football for family reasons and is negotiating with Shanghai Seaport.

　　After more than ten days, the negotiations finally came to a point where the dust settled.

Wu Lei and his teammates celebrate the goal.

Image source: Visual China.

　　There have been several rumors that Wu Lei ended his stay abroad, but none of them felt definitive this time, so it was somewhat surprising.

　　Many people hope that Wu Lei can continue to stay abroad, even if it is to change a team.

　　But the taste, only Wu Lei himself can experience it.

Wu Lei celebrates scoring a goal in the World Qualifiers.

　　On the eve of the second half of last year's World Preliminary Top 40, Wu Lei finally returned to China to participate in the national football training camp after 18 months.

Under the epidemic, Wu Lei's overseas career has brought more challenges and difficulties.

　　I remember that in an exclusive interview with China-Singapore Sports last year, we chatted with Wu Lei a lot about the national team and studying abroad.

When it comes to the most difficult topic of studying abroad, Wu Lei has spoken more than any other topic, and has also mentioned his family many times.

It can be seen that the importance of family to Wu Lei.

　　So this time Wu Lei chose to end his study abroad. Although it was a bit unexpected, it was more reasonable.

Wu Lei in La Liga.

Image source: Visual China.

open up and down

　　From the beginning of 2019, to returning to China in August 2022, Wu Lei made 126 appearances for the Espanyol in the three and a half years he stayed overseas, scoring 16 goals and 6 assists.

　　The number of appearances seems to be a lot, but in the past two seasons, Wu Lei has mostly come off the bench and has made few starts.

In the 2021/22 La Liga season, Wu Lei only averaged 20 minutes per game.

　　And Wu Lei's goals are mostly distributed in the first 1.5 seasons of landing in La Liga.

Wu Lei in his first season in La Liga.

Image source: IC photo

　　Last year, Wu Lei experienced a long-term goal drought. It was not until the second round of the Spanish Copa del Rey at the end of the year that Wu Lei stopped the number at 342 days by scoring goals...

　　The trajectory of the fans watching the ball can also clearly record this.

From staying up all night expecting Wu Lei to score, to expecting to start, and then gradually accepted the reality of Wu Lei as a substitute.

　　But no matter what, Wu Lei has done his best. As a forward player who is 30 years old, it is inevitable that his physical competitive state will begin to decline.

In addition, Wu Lei is a forward who is good at running and inserting. In the high-paced La Liga, the disadvantage brought by age will be further magnified.

Screenshot of Wu Lei's social media.

　　In addition, mental fatigue also weighed on Wu Lei.

　　After the end of this year's season, Wu Lei admitted on social media that he has been exhausted physically and mentally over the past few years, and he really needs to rest and relax.

　　In April, after the Shanghai Seaport official announced that Zhang Linpeng, who was also produced by the Genbao Base, would return to the team, Wu Lei also reposted and wrote: "Blessings, it's great." Between the lines, there is a faint meaning of return.

Screenshot of Wu Lei's social media.

　　This season, Shanghai Seaport's performance is not ideal due to the lack of lineup and insufficient preparation during the preparation period. At such a time when there is an urgent need for employment, Wu Lei's return is a more suitable node for both parties.

　　Scored goals in La Liga; helped Espanyol qualify for the Europa League play-offs, and returned to the European competition with Espanyol for the first time in 12 years; in the Catalan derby, he broke the gate of Barcelona and helped the team to a draw ...

　　Wu Lei's overseas trip is exciting and successful enough.

In previous interviews, Wu Lei also said that he had no regrets.

Wu Lei scored the Barcelona goal.

　　How long will the next Wu Lei have to wait?

　　For some fans, Wu Lei's return is still mixed with some regrets and reluctance.

　　In the Weibo poll we launched earlier, a total of 1794 netizens participated, of which nearly 70% expressed support or understanding of Wu Lei's decision to return to play football.

But there are also over 30% of fans who do not support this decision or choose not to say it.

　　In fact, this regret is not due to Wu Lei's own choice, but more because after returning to Wu Lei, it seems that in a short period of time, there will be no overseas players who can match Wu Lei in China.

Wu Lei in the match against La Liga powerhouse Sevilla.

　　Staying up all night waiting for Chinese players to score goals in the top five European leagues and break the goal of a giant team like Barcelona... If this kind of scene occurs again, it may indeed take a long time.

　　After Wu Lei ended his stay abroad, the only international player in the men's football team who stayed abroad was Li Lei, who played for the Swiss Grasshoppers. He, who stands at 30 like Wu Lei, is still fighting for the main position.

　　In terms of women's football, the situation is slightly better. Wang Shuang, who just joined the American NWSL team Louisville Athletic, Tang Jiali, who transferred to La Liga Madrid CFF, Zhang Linyan, who stayed in the Swiss Grasshopper, Celtic women's football double star Shen Mengyu and Shen Menglu, and just joined Moscow, Russia. Yang Shuhui from the locomotive... They are all on the world stage, further demonstrating the power of Chinese women's football.

　　Of course, a major reason for the women's football team to stay abroad is that the gap between domestic women's football players and the world's top level is relatively small, and for men's football, although they also want to go abroad to exercise more, but under the premise of lack of strength , the road to study abroad is destined to be full of ups and downs.

　　Rather than waiting for the next Wu Lei in the five major European leagues, it is better to look forward to the emergence of more Wu Lei, Sun Jihai, Yang Chen, Xie Hui and Zheng Zhi in youth football. I hope this day will not be too long...