Veteran journalists Chen Yong and Cai Zonglin bring you an exclusive report that the postponement of the Chinese Super League is almost a foregone conclusion. Those clubs that performed poorly in the first five rounds now have more time to make tactical adjustments. Wuhan, for example, are interested in signing Brazilian striker Anderson Lopes from Sapporo in the second transfer, and are also looking for a reliable U23 player.
However, Mbia, who is in the squad, has left the team and is said to have a family emergency, with the possibility of his return slim. In the first five rounds of the tournament, Mbia's performance was unsatisfactory, contributing two penalties and a red card. This leaves Wuhan with only four foreigners - Evra, Baptiste Don, Akin and Carrizo - with Raphael yet to sign up, plus the possible departure of Mbia.
Wuhan is currently actively pursuing the introduction of Brazilian striker Lopes of J-League side Gonzaga Sapporo, who leads the scoring charts in the J-League this season with 12 goals in 14 matches.
Lopez has played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima since joining the J-League in 2016, when then-head coach Koichi Mori placed him in attacking midfield, where he contributed three goals and one assist in nine matches, and while he wasn't very efficient in terms of scoring, his excellent ability to break away from the ball allowed him to stay in Hiroshima with a loan extension.
In 2017, Lopez scored 10 goals for Hiroshima to help the team survive a thrilling relegation; in 2018, he moved to the K-League, but his loan spell with Seoul was not a great one, as he scored only six goals in 30 matches. Lopez said he did not adapt to the K League's style of play, which emphasizes running and confrontation.
In 2019, Lopez finally found a stage to play on when he joined Sapporo Gonzaga.In 2019 and 2020, he scored a total of 25 goals and added 6 assists. Notably, after the 3rd round of the 2019 J-League season, he tumbled over a home billboard and accidentally fell into a large pit.
This season, Lopez switched to playing as a center forward, which inspired his desire to score, scoring 12 goals in 14 rounds of matches to lead the scorer's list. According to the Japanese media, Lopez is a stronger attacker than defender, and despite being able to play as a front man or a right winger who cuts inside and shoots, the center forward position is better for his left foot. If he joins Wuhan, he will replace Akin as the team's main center forward.
In addition, Wuhan is also actively working on Raphael's return and has high hopes for it. At that time, Akin may be withdrawn from enrollment.
In addition to introducing foreign strikers, Wuhan is also actively looking for U23 players. Currently, the U23 players in the team include Fang Hao and Li Xingqi, but Li Xingqi's performance is average, and although Fang Hao has characteristics, as a young player, his play will be limited once he is targeted by the opponents' focus. It is reported that Wuhan may introduce a side defender, this is because the team's foreign aid is mainly concentrated in the front field, in order to give full play to the power of foreign aid, it is not suitable to arrange U23 players in the front field. The combination of three foreign aiders in front of the field can make Wuhan's attack really powerful, therefore, a U23 side back is naturally the best choice.
In addition to personnel adjustment, Wuhan team to get out of the predicament, the more critical is the team's cohesion and morale. In the first five rounds of matches, Wuhan's performance was unstable; the game against Yatai was a great success, and the game against Guoan was a breakthrough, but the performance in other matches was not satisfactory. Given some historical reasons, some players seem to have a hard time focusing all their attention on the game and not exerting all their fighting spirit, which is actually more serious than the personnel problem.
