Wan Xiang, a key player for the national youth team, started from Red Star U17.

Reported by Chen Yong On February 21, Wan Xiang completed his debut after joining Red Star Belgrade: in the U17 league match where Red Star Belgrade drew 2-2 away against Bačka Topola, Wan Xiang, wearing the number 17 jersey, entered the game as a substitute in the 38th minute.

Similar to Xu Bin and Zhang Jiaming, although Wan Xiang also signed a professional contract, he began in the youth league. This player, who is not yet 17 years old, will comprehensively improve himself in Serbia. In May this year, Wan Xiang, as the offensive core of the national youth team, will also participate in the U17 Asian Cup.

Before officially signing with Red Star Belgrade, Wan Xiang went to Serbia to play football in October 2025, joining the Dulijai Football Academy and competing in the Serbian West Region U19 League (Serbian U19 second division). At Dulijai Football Academy, Wan Xiang performed exceptionally well, helping the team to a 5-2 victory in his debut and receiving high praise from the academy. In his second match, he scored a brace. After playing three games, Wan Xiang returned to China to participate in the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers.

In a previous report by Xinhua News Agency, Red Star's youth training director, Yelich, stated that with the club's development, the original talent selection scope could no longer meet the needs, and Red Star is promoting a more international talent development layout. Yelich said: "Signing Wan Xiang is an important step for the club towards the Asian market. Based on the club's current assessment, he is one of the most talented young Chinese players in the past two to three decades."

After joining Red Star, Wan Xiang first played in a friendly match against the U17 team of Vozdovac, where Zhang Jiaming and Lin Zihao are based. Wan Xiang scored a goal, helping his team win 2-1. After joining Red Star Belgrade, although the competition level Wan Xiang participates in is the U17 league, it is the top-tier Serbian U17 league, with higher intensity and faster pace compared to the previous West Region U19 league. It is understood that while playing for Dulijai Football Academy, Wan Xiang also trained with Red Star's youth teams, all as preparation for eventually signing with Red Star Belgrade.

On February 21, Wan Xiang made his official match debut for Red Star Belgrade. In this U17 league game, he came on in the 38th minute, playing as a right winger and later as a defensive midfielder in the final stages. Actually, neither position is Wan Xiang's specialty, but for youth teams, players are generally expected to have higher positional adaptability.

Wan Xiang is more adept at playing as a central midfielder, attacking midfielder, or shadow striker. He can even fill in as a center forward with decent performance. More precisely, he possesses excellent attacking talent through the central areas, along with very good stamina. However, Wan Xiang is not particularly known for his speed, and his defensive ability has some room for improvement due to his relatively slight physique.

Nevertheless, Wan Xiang is striving to meet the coach's requirements and perform as well as possible in unfamiliar positions. In his own summary, he mentioned that the pace and physicality of the Serbian U17 league are noticeably higher than the West Region U19 league, but he feels he can adapt. In terms of the match, he demonstrated good ball-handling ability even with limited possession. In communications between the Chinese side and Red Star, the club expressed relative satisfaction with Wan Xiang's performance, considering it was only his first game.

On a personal level, Wan Xiang has faced some challenges, especially regarding language. He has a basic foundation in English, but the primary language of communication within the Red Star U17 team is Serbian, which has affected his interactions with coaches and teammates. This is another hurdle Wan Xiang needs to overcome.

Among players of the same age group, Wan Xiang is often compared with national youth teammates such as Shuai Weihao, Kuang Zhaolei, and Xie Jin, especially since their development paths are quite different.

Shuai Weihao played in the China League One in the 2025 season because, born in January, he turned 16 during the winter registration period of 2025. Wan Xiang, born in May, could only be registered as a professional player during the summer transfer window of 2025, but by then Wan Xiang was preparing to go abroad, so Hubei Youth Star did not register him for the China League One. Shuai Weihao played 20 matches in the 2025 China League One season, starting 11, averaging 58 minutes per game, and scored 5 goals. Kuang Zhaolei returned to China after a brief stint abroad and currently plays for Qingdao Hainiu. His playing time in the 2026 season remains to be seen; playing in the Chinese Super League would be ideal, otherwise the U20 league serves as a development platform. Xie Jin and several other players born in 2009 are currently playing in the Spanish third division U19 league. This season, Xie Jin has made 16 appearances, starting 10, scoring 9 goals and providing 7 assists.

According to plan, Wan Xiang will join the national youth team training during the March international break and will return early to prepare for the U17 Asian Cup. The Chinese side has already communicated this in advance with Red Star Belgrade. For Wan Xiang, this means he will not have many matches with Red Star Belgrade U17 and will need to accelerate his adaptation process.