Zhang Yuning's "potential impact -- off the pitch if not on" -- at Bundesliga side Werder Bremen was "in full effect" as a livestream of the Chinese player's first press conference with the club "crashed because of the demand," according to James Porteous of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Zhang, 20, was bought by Chinese-owned EPL side West Bromwich Albion this week, "then immediately loaned to Werder because he does not qualify for a work permit in England." Having "not made a major impact during two seasons" at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, some doubt whether Zhang can make the grade in the "tougher German league." But there was "no doubt as to his marketing potential as hordes of Chinese reporters descended on the press conference and thousands of fans tuned in" to see him talk to the media in "perfect English," fielding "hard-hitting questions about food and his love life." Zhang was accompanied by his father, wrapped in a Werder scarf, "who had apparently been instrumental to the move." Handsome and "articulate in several languages, Zhang has the potential to be a marketing phenomenon for China's army of football fans -- if he can make the grade" (SCMP, 7/6).
