Since Wu Lei's return to China, there have been very few Chinese players in the top five leagues. In recent years, Japanese and South Korean players have landed in Europe's top leagues, and the overall level of competition has improved significantly. Sun Xingmiao and San Kaoru have made a splash in the English Premier League, while South Korean foreign aid player Kim Min Ja, who used to play for Guoan, moved to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich for a high price this summer, making him the envy of countless Chinese fans. When will a Chinese player make his mark in Europe's top five leagues and become a target of competition among the giants?
According to Beijing Youth Daily, an international player is expected to join the English Premier League after the Asian Games in Hangzhou come to an end. Unfortunately, however, the player is not a member of the Chinese men's soccer team, but rather Zhang Linyan, the sharpshooter of the Chinese women's soccer team. Zhang Linyan joined Swiss side Grasshopper last season, and since joining on loan last summer, she has played 22 games, contributing 11 goals and 9 assists, including 4 goals and 3 assists in the playoffs, making her goal-scoring efficiency extremely high. Prior to that, Zhang Linyan had already won the "Golden Ball Award" for the best player in the Swiss Women's Football League.
With her outstanding performance in the Grasshopper and Women's World Cup, Zhang Linyan has attracted the attention of five top league teams. It is reported that Zhang Linyan is expected to join these five teams next season, and may even land in the English Premier League. Compared with men's soccer, women's soccer is still at the forefront of competitiveness in Asia, and Chinese women's soccer has also shown a collective trend of staying in the ocean. It is worth mentioning that in the last battle of the women's soccer team, the Chinese team did not beat England and missed the good opportunity to get out of the group. This game also showed us the gap between Chinese women's soccer and European teams. As an ordinary fan, I firmly believe that both Chinese men's and women's soccer have the potential to rise quickly.
Unlike Wu Lei who joined Espanyol with the support of Chinese bosses, Zhang Linyan won the opportunity to join a Premier League team with her own strength and outstanding performance. We are looking forward to Zhang Linyan's success in the new season of the Premier League women's soccer, and to show the strength of Chinese women's soccer players on the stage of the top league.
