“The whole of China is supporting Wu Lei and Espanyol,” according to La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has raved about his impact.
The 27-year-old striker netted his first goal for the Catalan club since joining for a €2m fee from Shanghai SIPG in the winter transfer window.
Marca cite that TV figures in the Far East – which peaked at 40 million – dwarfed that within Spain (177k), for Espanyol’s recent 3-1 win over Real Valladolid.
“Wu Lei is a great forward, the whole of China is supporting him and Espanyol,” Tebas told reporters, as cited by Marca.
“La Liga is looking towards the Chinese market and players who are in the Chinese Super League who have the potential to do well in Spain.
“I believe Espanyol should go to China on a pre-season tour, because there would be a big interest in the player and the club from those who live here.
“We want Chinese people to view La Liga as the second most important league in the world, alongside their own league and we want to maximise that potential.
“That is a market that is developing quicker than any other and now they have a very important player who is playing in the best league in the world.
“Playing La Liga matches in China? We do not want to rule anything out.”
