Werder Bremen's newest recruit comes all the way from the Far East. The Green-Whites have signed China international Yuning Zhang on a two-year loan deal from English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. The centre forward played for Vitesse Arnheim last season before recently switching to West Brom, and has been immediately loaned out to Werder.
"After some very constructive talks with West Brom, we have found a very good solution for all parties. We're delighted to be able to sign Yuning Zhang on loan. He is a young, talented player who has already had a taste of football here in Europe and made the decision to move abroad in order to further his career. We want to help him continue to do this," said Frank Baumann, Werder's sporting director.
Richard Garlick, Albion’s Director of Football Administration, flew to Germany this week to tie up the details of the three-club deal and said: “This is a project which suits all parties and gets our Club in at the ground floor of the career of one of China’s most exciting young players. Zhang will get the chance to further develop at Bremen, with whom we have developed excellent relationships. He will be challenging for a place in a top European league and we will be monitoring his progress before reassessing his prospects at the end of the loan period. There is no doubt he has a lot of qualities which Bremen are well-positioned to grow and develop. His progress will be the subject of great interest here at Albion but also in Germany and in China.”
Yuning Zhang is looking forward to his new challenge in Germany: "I'm very proud to have the chance to play for this team. Werder is a big club in China and I'm really excited about this opportunity. My dream is to play in the Bundesliga and I hope to be able to showcase my skills at some point in the near future."
The 20-year-old will begin pre-season training with the first team on Sunday. “Yuning is a young player, who is willing to learn and has brilliant instincts when it comes to making runs in the box."We're hoping that he will settle into the team and Bundesliga football quickly, but we will also give him time he needs to develop," said Werder head coach Alexander Nouri.
Yuning Zhang began his footballing career as a young boy at Hangzhou Greentown, before moving to Vitesse Arnheim in 2015 where he graduated from the academy and went on to play for the first team. The 20-year old made 16 appearances for Vitesse and was the first Chinese player ever to score in the Dutch Eredivisie. Zhang has been capped nine times for China, scored two goals for his country.
