The postponement of the Chinese Super League is almost a foregone conclusion, providing more opportunities for adjustments for several teams that underperformed in the first five rounds. One of them, Wuhan, is interested in bringing in Brazilian striker Anderson Lopez of Japan's Sapporo in the second transfer window, while also looking for a reliable U23 player.
Mbia has now left the team and is rumored to have work problems at home and his return is unlikely. He contributed two penalties in the first five rounds of matches, but underperformed due to a red card. Thus, Wuhan's remaining foreigners are Evra, Baptiste Don, Akin and Carrizo, with Raphael unregistered, and with the possible departure of Mbia, Wuhan's total number of registered foreigners reaches six, meaning that they only have one foreigner slot available for adjustment.
Wuhan is actively bringing in Brazilian striker Lopes of J-League side Gonzaga Sapporo, who leads the scorers' table with 12 goals in 14 appearances in the J-League this season.
Lopez has played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima since joining the J-League in 2016. He made 9 appearances as a midfielder under the dominance of Morihoichi, scoring 3 goals and registering 1 assist. Although his efficiency was average, his ability to break with the ball was excellent, and with a loan fee of only 750,000 euros, he chose to extend his loan to stay in Hiroshima.
In 2017, Lopez scored 10 goals for Hiroshima to help the team survive a thrilling relegation; in 2018, he moved to the K-League, joining Seoul on loan, but only scored 6 goals in 30 matches, a mediocre performance. He said he did not adapt to the K League's emphasis on running and confrontational style.
In 2019, Sapporo Gonzaga signed Lopez, who has finally found the right stage for him.In 2019 and 2020, Lopez scored 25 goals and had 6 assists. Notably, in the 3rd round of the 2019 J-League season, he tumbled over a home billboard after scoring a goal and accidentally fell into a pit.
This season, Lopez switched to playing as a center forward, which inspired his desire to score, scoring 12 goals in 14 rounds to lead the scorers' list. According to the Japanese media, Lopez is a stronger attacker than defender, and although he can also play as a forward or a right winger who cuts inside and shoots at goal, the center forward position is more effective to utilize the power of his left foot. If he joins Wuhan, he will replace Akin as the team's main center forward.
In addition, Wuhan is also making every effort to secure the return of Raphael, with a higher likelihood that Akin could be de-enrolled at that time.
In addition to introducing foreign strikers, Wuhan is also actively looking for U23 players. Currently, the team has U23 players such as Fang Hao and Li Xingqi, but Li Xingqi's performance is mediocre, and Fang Hao, although distinctive, is relatively young and easily targeted by opponents. It is reported that Wuhan may need a side defender, because the team's foreign aid is mainly concentrated in the front field, need to give full play to the power of foreign aid, so it is not suitable to arrange U23 players in the front field. The combination of three foreigners in front of the field can make Wuhan's attack really powerful, so a U23 side back becomes the best choice.
In addition to personnel adjustments, Wuhan wants to get out of the woods, the key lies in the team's cohesion and morale. In the first five rounds of matches, Wuhan's performance has been inconsistent, with the team being united against Yatai and breaking the ice against Guoan, but the other matches were hardly satisfactory. For some historical reasons, some of the players seemed to have difficulty in focusing their full attention on the game, and did not play with full fighting spirit. This is actually more fatal than the personnel problems.
