Wu Lei's excellent performance in Espanyol has made more and more foreign clubs begin to set their sights on China, and more and more European giants have begun to look for excellent young players in China. More than a decade ago, China once appeared a player who was coaxed by many European giants, it can be said that the sensation he caused in world football at that time was not inferior to the current Wu Lei, today we will talk about his story.
Du Zhenyu, a former member of the men's national football team and the legendary winger of Changchun Yatai, is a player who coexists with appearance and skills, and has become famous for his outstanding ability. In 2005, Changchun Yatai, with Du Zhenyu as the core, was successful in surpassing the super, and Du Zhenyu was just 23 years old. Two years later, in 2007, the entire Chinese football world completely became Du Zhenyunian, and under his leadership, Changchun Yatai, a small northern club that had just rushed into the Chinese Super League for two years, won the Chinese Super League championship that year by beating traditional giants such as Beijing Guoan and Shandong Luneng. As the absolute core of the team, Du Zhenyu, who was like a god in the sky that year, the entire Chinese Super League was unstoppable, and finally with the phenomenal performance of the whole season, he successfully crowned the Chinese Footballer of the Year and was nominated by the Asian Footballer of the Year, and the fans affectionately called him and his teammate Wang Dong "Zhendong Combination". More than a decade later, Changchun fans said that this pair of original team twin stars are still extremely proud.
Due to Du Zhenyu's great talent on the pitch, since 2003, foreign big-name clubs have tried to introduce this future Chinese brother. The first to make a request for a purchase was the Russian team CSKA Moscow, a top Russian Super League club that has been participating in the Champions League for many years, and the opponent can look at Du Zhenyu, who is only 21 years old, indicating that the huge potential of the players at that time has begun to reveal. It is a pity that Changchun Yatai, who loves talentedly, finally refused CSKA's request, but judging from Du Zhenyu's subsequent performance, he was fully worthy of the trust of the team.
CSKA in 2003 was just the beginning, and as Du Zhenyu's number of games increased, his personal ability quickly improved. By 2005, Du Zhenyu's personal ability, which had fully grown up, had been a level higher than that of other Chinese players, and it was also from this time that The top European clubs began to bombard Du Zhenyu intensively. From 2005 to 2009, in the golden five years of Du Zhenyu's football career, he received invitations from several big teams every year, covering the five major leagues in Europe. Among them, Dortmund, Arsenal, Lyon, Sevilla and other teams have thrown an olive branch to Du Zhenyu more than once, but unfortunately they have been rejected by Changchun Yatai. Yatai regards Du Zhenyu as a symbol of the team, and Changchun regards Du Zhenyu as the city's business card, and everyone hopes that he can stay in China and play football.
From Du Zhenyu's heart, he still hopes to go to a higher level league to increase his knowledge and experience himself. The closest to Du Zhenyu is the Premier League giants Manchester City, when Sun Jihai, who performed well in Manchester City, returned to China, and Manchester City hopes to continue to introduce an excellent Chinese player to help the team stand firm in the Chinese market, so Blue Moon is very eager to sign a contract with Du Zhenyu, who is in the Chinese super red. Changchun Yatai was once willing to let him go, and Du Zhenyu had already completed his visa in Beijing and was ready to leave, but for some reason he was finally left behind.
In the end, Du Zhenyu's entire career failed to realize the dream of staying in the West, which cannot but be said to be a pity. At that time, the general environment really did not support domestic players to go abroad to stay abroad. In addition to Du Zhenyu, there are many outstanding players who have been photographed by foreign clubs, but have been "detained" by their respective clubs for various reasons. More than a decade later, looking back at the team's decision at that time, it is indeed debatable.