At 10:00 Beijing time on January 4, Swiss Grasshopper officially confirmed that 29-year-old international Li Lei officially flew to Zurich, Switzerland.
Li Lei had already left the Guangzhou division early on the night of the Jinglu Battle, missing the last two rounds of the match against Guangzhou City and Shenzhen. After leaving Longmen in Songshan, Henan province in January 2015, Li Lei has been playing for Beijing Guoan, where he has spent seven seasons. Now, he's finally starting a new chapter in his career.
Li Lei joined the Swiss Grasshoppers as a free agent. Yes, this Swiss grasshopper is another Chinese team, and the owner behind it is the wife of Wolves boss Guo Guangchang. The last Chinese player to stay in the West was Ji Xiaoxuan, but after staying in Ligue 2 for more than a year, he basically disappeared, and finally could only return to the Chinese Super League to join Qingdao. Before Li Lei joined the Swiss grasshopper, only Wu Lei was the only Chinese male player who was still in Europe. Now that another international has come to Europe, Wu Lei is no longer alone.
During his seven years in Beijing Guoan, Li Lei made a total of 141 appearances, contributing 4 goals and 13 assists. He said he regretted not being able to help Guoan win a Chinese Super League title.
Li Lei's performance in recent years has also been recognized by Guoan fans, and he finally entered the national team in 2019. However, Li Lei also admitted that his ability is not yet able to gain a foothold in the five major leagues, and to go to a European second-level league like Switzerland can at least get playing time and learn more things.