Recently, the strength of our men's soccer team has suffered a slump, and Southeast Asian teams have gradually emerged. The situation of overseas players also reflects this phenomenon. South Korea, Japan's soccer in the overseas players to promote, realize the leap, among the forefront of Asian soccer, and in the world stage to occupy a place. In China, there is only one overseas player, Li Lei, active in the European professional league.
Since Wu Lei's return, Li Lei has become the newest member of the national soccer team to study abroad and shoulder the burden of the European journey. He plays for Grasshoppers, a strong team in the Swiss Super League, similar to Wu Lei's experience in Spain. Grasshoppers FC is the pride of our country's soccer, as is Wu Lei's Spaniards.
Grasshoppers' development strategy is very different from the Spaniards. They have no intention of rising to dominate the Swiss Super League again, but are committed to building star players, developing a young squad and blowing up youth. They are keen to develop East Asian players and seek to realize an increase in commercial value. Recently, they have loaned out five East Asian players, including 24-year-old Japanese defender Hye-Ki Yuan, as well as 27-year-old Japanese midfielder Jun Kawabe, 20-year-old Korean starlet Jeong Wanna-Bin, 22-year-old Japanese defender Ayumu Seguro, and 30-year-old Chinese defender Li Lei.
In terms of age structure, Grasshoppers have only three players in their 30s, with an average age of around 25, making it a youthful storm. As the team's youth rises, Li Lei is slightly older and at risk of being pushed out of the team. He brought his overseas experience back to the Chinese Super League, as Li Lei's position was in jeopardy when Grasshoppers registered non-European players, with the original Hui Qi expected to replace him. What's more, Li Lei's contract is set to expire in June 2023.
According to the Swiss Super League player registration rules, each team can only register five non-European players. Apart from the 5 East Asian players, Grasshoppers also have a Nigerian striker, Francis Momo. As a result, Li Lei's future in the Swiss Super League is not optimistic, and he may be squeezed out of the first-team squad by South Korean, Japanese and Brazilian players. According to the analysis of "Beijing Youth Daily", Li Lei's next stop may be back to the Chinese Super League. In the interview, Li Lei also said that playing in Europe has realized his dream, the future is unpredictable, so he chose not to be entangled. So far, Li Lei has played 14 matches on behalf of Grasshopper, with 6 starts and 8 substitutions, contributing 1 assist, and no goals scored for the time being.
National youth striker Jaboyan is expected to replace Li Lei during the winter training period. He has been promoted to the first team for winter training after his recent acclaimed performances with Grasshoppers and Dubrava. Although Grasshoppers loaned Jaboyan to K-League side Dubrava, he quickly completed two warm-up matches with Dubrava. 2022 was recognized for its strength in the second half of the year when Jaboyan shone in the Dubrava Cup, scoring two goals. At the national team level, the 19-year-old Jaboyan was also selected for the national youth team and the Olympics in quick succession, showing outstanding ability and form.
