It has been over two years since Chinese football striker Wu Lei joined the Spanish club RCD Espanyol in January 2019. There were good times like the days he played in the UEFA Europa League; there were bad days as well, like when the club was relegated to LaLiga 2. In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, the 29-year-old shared his feelings for this part of his career.

When RCD Espanyol failed to remain in La Liga last season, many Chinese fans understandably felt very disappointed because the only Chinese player in a top European football league was no longer there.

However, that's not how Wu himself felt. "I went overseas to learn," said Wu. "I want to feel not just foreign football, but also foreign culture. I've learned and gone through a lot both in La Liga and LaLiga 2. For example, this season, I felt what it's like to play in LaLiga 2, including how every team survives here. That gives me full-round experience of Spanish football. So I felt no disappointment at all moving from La Liga to LaLiga 2."

Of course, no team wants to remain in the second-division league. Wu admitted that the only goal of RCD Espanyol is to make it back to the top league. "We are very confident. We will go back. Some may think that LaLiga 2 is not so competitive, but if you watch the games or the ranking table, you will agree that none of the top teams are able to leave others behind after half of a season. We can't afford to slack in even one game because that is the necessary mindset for a team to achieve success."

Since RCD Espanyol were relegated, Wu has been facing more fierce competition. Having played 19 games so far, he only averaged 33 minutes, much less than he used to have last season (52 minutes), not to mention that he usually had to start the bench.

Wu admitted he saw it coming from the first day he came. "I thought about it before coming to Europe. It's definitely more competitive here than back at home because that how European football is. That's why I was ready for all kinds of difficulties. I may be able to play but may not get much time; I may not be sent to the game for a while; I saw all that coming," said Wu.

"Many young players show their excellency every year thanks to our great youth development system. The first team receives a lot of new faces every year. I think this is good competition because it puts our team in a virtuous circle."

Unlike the days in La Liga, RCD Espanyol are a giant in the second division, which means they often have to go through a bus parked in front of the goal. As a striker whose biggest advantage is his speed in counter-attack, Wu does not receive many opportunities in games like this. Moreover, manager Vicente Moreno preferred to put Wu in the left-wing, which is not his favorite position.

That partly explained why Wu has scored two goals in LaLiga 2 and one in Copa del Rey. Nonetheless, Wu did not use any of the above as an excuse for his unsatisfactory performance. "The biggest reason is in me." He admitted that it took longer to recover from injuries both physically and mentally, but he has gone way too much to be held back by this problem.

"I must show great form in daily training sessions and earn trust from manager and teammates as well as chance to play with good performance. It's all up to my work."

When COVID-19 swept across the globe at the beginning of 2020, Spain was one of the worst-hit countries. Wu and his family were infected last March. He admitted that he once considered coming back home. "Honestly, I really thought about it: Should I go home? But with my family by my side and so many fans supporting me, I made it through."

The coronavirus did not leave any long-term effect on Wu. "Many players in Europe were affected, but they have all fully recovered. Personally, I do not feel a problem left, my health and stamina are both back to normal."

Wu said the pandemic brought so many changes to European football, and one of the biggest is the absence of attendee. "I always say that fans' support is the best motivation for us. Now it feels so different because there are no fans in the stadium. I wish they were here cheering for us and sharing the sweetness of victory with us."

Wu also revealed that he's always ready to join the Chinese national team for World Cup qualifiers. "There are four games left. I'm confident we will make the third round. Once we are there, we will be competing with teams at a similar level. Anything will be possible."

Despite all the setbacks he went through in the past year, Wu is convinced that he made the right decision to come to Spain. "Getting used to European football and securing a spot in this team at my age made me believe that nothing went wrong or was pity making the decision of coming here."

"I watched a lot of European games on TV before coming to Spain. It's totally different from joining this environment and feeling the game here, including the system, style, and preference of Spanish football. I am truly happy to be able to experience all this and learn so much from it."