Espanyol want China goalkeeper Junling Yan

The 28-year-old has won 24 caps for his national side and played just shy of 300 first-team games at club level since his debut in 2008.

“I have a dream to play in Europe, why can not I be the first Chinese goalkeeper to do it?” Yan is reported as saying.

“If the conditions are right, I think I can try it. The opportunity for me is not wanting to go to Europe itself, but to analyse if it is an appropriate option for me.”.

However, China boss Marcelo Lippi has said: “If he goes abroad, he will have it difficult.”.

The Catalan club’s owner Chen Yansheng is from China and is wanting to make a deeper impact on his home market and to increase the internationalisation of the club in general.

Earlier this year, the club signed striker Wu Lei who subsequently became La Liga’s first ever Chinese player.