AJ Auxerre Signs Chinese Teen Talent Wei Xiangxin

AJ Auxerre have turned to China for their next attacking gamble, tying 18-year-old forward Wei Xiangxin to a five-year deal as they look to stabilise in Ligue 1 after a brush with relegation.

The club, who finished 15th out of 18 in France’s top flight last season and only just dodged the relegation play-offs, confirmed on Thursday that Wei has officially joined from Meizhou Hakka. He will wear the number 49 shirt.

“AJ Auxerre is very proud to announce the arrival of Xiangxin Wei. A great hope of Chinese football, he has signed a five-year contract and will wear number 49,” the club said in a statement, underlining the scale of their bet on the teenager.

This move has been months in the making. Auxerre revealed back in November that they had reached an agreement with Chinese Super League side Meizhou Hakka, with the plan clear: once the Guangdong-born forward turned 18, he would sign his first professional contract in France.

The club have not hidden how carefully they intend to handle him. In a statement released last year, Auxerre outlined a long-term, tailored training programme built around Wei’s specific profile, saying they expected him to chase “higher career goals” after a three-week trial with the team in 2024 convinced them of his potential.

That potential has shown itself most clearly in a China shirt. Wei struck nine goals in just 12 under-17 appearances for his country between 2024 and 2025, a return that has marked him out as one of the most intriguing young forwards in Chinese football.

His club record so far is more modest, and more honest. Across two seasons with Meizhou, spread over two different tiers of Chinese football, he scored once in 28 appearances. Meizhou were relegated to China League One last November after winning only five of their 30 league matches, with Wei also adding a single goal in this year’s Chinese FA Cup.

So Auxerre are not signing a finished product. They are signing a project – one with international pedigree at youth level, raw numbers at senior level, and the kind of long contract that says as much about the club’s belief as it does about their need to plan ahead.

For a side that only just stayed in Ligue 1, the question now is simple: how quickly can this “great hope of Chinese football” turn promise into points in one of Europe’s toughest leagues?