The list of candidates for the Ballon d'Or was unveiled at the 2022 Chinese football event, in which international players such as Wu Lei, Zhang Yuning and Jiang Guangtai were all selected, highlighting the strength of the new Chinese Super League dominators Wuhan Sanzhen. However, the list was not well received by all fans, with many believing the list to be an imitation.
In the face of this list, some fans have said that if the award must exist, they would prefer to change the name to "China's best soccer player", rather than just adding heat to the name of the "Golden Ball Award". With the announcement of the 2022 Ballon d'Or shortlist, Guoan's Zhang Yuning may be facing a major career change. As a top center forward in the Chinese Super League, Zhang Yuning has been dubbed the "Harland of the Chinese Super League" and has scored numerous goals in the 2022 season.
Zhang Yuning scored 19 goals during his time with Beijing Guoan, winning the title of top scorer of the season. Nowadays, his performance in the Chinese Super League has a goal-scoring efficiency even comparable to that of top foreigners. As for the other favorite Wu Lei, he has been nominated several times in a row for his outstanding performance in the Europa League. Wu Lei has won the Chinese Golden Ball Award thanks to his outstanding performance in the top five leagues, and the jury therefore tended to give him support in their voting.
Wu Lei is a self-proclaimed Chinese version of Cristiano Ronaldo, and has been hailed by fans as a representative of the Study Abroad Army. However, in this season, Wu Lei chose to end his study abroad career and return to the Shanghai team. Despite his impressive performance in Shanghai, he failed to help the team win the league title. In this context, Wu Lei may only play the role of a "runner" in the competition for this year's Ballon d'Or.
For Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Sanzhen, the Golden Ball award seems like it should be tilted in favor of their players. But in fact, Sanzhen won the title this season mainly due to the outstanding play of foreigner Malcolm. Local players Xie Pengfei, Liu Dangzui and Deng Hanwen made limited contributions in winning the title. To summarize, Zhang Yuning, who is known as "Harland of the Chinese Super League", may become a strong contender for this year's Golden Ball Award.
