Xu Bin Joins Wolves on a Wildcard, a Positive Signal for Chinese Players Going Abroad

Special Contributor/Shen Mo On January 30th, Premier League side Wolves confirmed the acquisition of West Coast midfielder Xu Bin. Despite this being widely known beforehand, Xu Bin’s strong showing at the U23 Asian Cup and his captaincy role intensified discussions among supporters and media about his overseas transfer. However, he is not yet eligible to register for Wolves’ first team or play in the Premier League. Still, for young Chinese players eager for overseas opportunities, Xu Bin joining Wolves is undoubtedly a very encouraging sign.

Xu Bin hails from Yiyang, Hunan. He joined the Evergrande Football School in 2014 and was promoted to Guangzhou’s first team in 2022, where he played for three years. In 2025, he transferred to West Coast. After last season’s Chinese Super League ended, Xu Bin began considering a move abroad and had substantive contact with Wolves. Before the U23 Asian Cup, he quietly trialed with Wolves, and both parties reached a basic agreement, only waiting for the right moment to announce it officially.

At the U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese U23 national team finished as runners-up, with Xu Bin delivering an outstanding performance, which further highlighted his move abroad. After the final on January 24th, Xu Bin flew directly from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to the UK for a medical examination and to complete transfer procedures with Wolves. By the evening of January 28th, the German transfer market website had already updated his club affiliation to Wolves.

In the official announcement, Wolves briefly introduced Xu Bin as a captain of the Chinese U23 national team and praised him highly: “This defensive midfielder can contribute on both ends of the pitch and possesses excellent passing skills. He is highly regarded in Chinese football, having played for Guangzhou and Qingdao West Coast, with experience in senior-level matches.” Additionally, Wolves confirmed Xu Bin will be registered with their U21 squad and will be loaned to a lower-tier English club for development while retaining eligibility to play for Wolves’ U21 team.

Foreign media reports indicate Xu Bin is likely to be loaned to Barnsley in League One. If he does not get enough playing time there, he can return to Wolves’ U21 squad to compete in the English U21 Elite Youth League.

To facilitate Xu Bin’s signing, Wolves, the only Chinese-invested club in the Premier League, used a wildcard (ESC) slot—each Premier League club has two wildcards to sign non-British players without labor certification restrictions. Originally, Xu Bin did not qualify for a work permit directly because China’s FIFA ranking is below 50, which is the Premier League’s minimum for labor certification (GBE) applicants representing their national teams. Moreover, Xu Bin is not a senior national team regular, lacking the required caps and playing time. Lastly, the Chinese Super League is currently ranked only sixth among leagues recognized by the Premier League for foreign player sourcing, one level below the Japanese and Korean leagues.

The Premier League mandates that foreign players from associations ranked outside the top 50 must have played at least one continental youth or senior competition match in the past 12 months to qualify for a wildcard. As one of the U23 Chinese national team captains, Xu Bin’s participation in the U23 Asian Cup meets this requirement, allowing him to join Wolves via the wildcard. Wolves’ willingness to use a wildcard on him shows how much they value Xu Bin.

Wolves stated that Xu Bin must first settle in the UK and pass the language barrier as soon as possible. They will arrange suitable loans for him to gain match experience. The coming year will be a real test for Xu Bin. If loaned to a League One club, he must play at least 60% of matches to qualify for a work permit without a wildcard, enabling him to continue playing in the UK and freeing up a wildcard slot for Wolves.

Xu Bin is the fourth Chinese player signed by Wolves, following Yang Mingyang, He Zhenyu, and Dai Weijun. Current international Zhang Yuning also joined West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2017, but that Chinese-invested club loaned him to Werder Bremen and The Hague before he returned to China to join Guoan two years later. The last Chinese player to establish himself in the English professional leagues was Zheng Zhi, who was loaned to then-Premier League Charlton Athletic in early 2007, playing there for two and a half years before moving on to Celtic in Scotland for one season.

With Xu Bin’s move to Wolves, a new wave of Chinese youth players going abroad may be on the horizon. Previously, 21-year-old Wang Bohao gained substantial playing time in the Dutch second division with Den Bosch, and 17-year-old Wei Xiangxin has been training with the French Chinese-invested club Auxerre’s youth team.

Given the U23 national team’s strong performance at the Asian Cup, more players are likely to move abroad if things go smoothly. Notably, Xu Bin’s transition has been very smooth, thanks to the full understanding and support from his parent club West Coast. Xu Bin also expressed gratitude to last season’s West Coast coach Shao Jiayi, the current Chinese national team coach, who strongly supports young players like Xu Bin going abroad to improve themselves in Europe’s top leagues.