Wu Lei sole Chinese player on World Soccer 500 list

Wu Lei (left) and Hulk celebrate a goal during Shanghai SIPG's game against Guangzhou R&F on the 3rd matchday of the 2018 Chinese Super League in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on March 18, 2018. Wu scored 4 goals in SIPG's 5-2 victory. [Photo: Xinhua]

Shanghai SIPG winger Wu Lei is the only Chinese player to have made it onto the latest World Soccer 500 list, according to a Xinhua report. The 26-year-old is the lead scorer in China's Super League, with 7 goals from 3 games so far this season. 

Wu also made it onto last year's list along with fellow Chinese players Zheng Zhi and Feng Xiaoting. 

This year, five other CSL players received the nod from the list's creator, British magazine World Soccer. They are Wu's SIPG teammate Hulk, Beijing Guo'an midfielder Renato Augusto, Tianjin Teda's John Mikel Obi, Tianjin Quanjian's Axel Witsel, as well as Guangzhou R&F's Eran Zahavi. 

Brazil had 40 players on the list, the largest number to come from any single country. 

Germany's Bundesliga was the world's top ranking league, with 68 players making it onto the list, including 17 players from leading German club Bayern Munich.