Shanghai SIPG Wu started his football career playing for third-tier side
Shanghai East Asia, making his debut for the club on 2 September 2006 in a 5–3 loss against
Yunnan Lijiang Dongba, making him the youngest ever player to play professional Chinese football aged 14 years and 287 days. He helped the club win the third tier title and promotion to the second tier at the end of the 2007 league season. He scored his first goal for the club on 30 August 2008 in a 2–0 win against
Qingdao Hailifeng. This made him the second youngest goalscorer in Chinese football aged 16 years and 289 days, just 47 days behind
Cao Yunding's record. On 8 March 2013, Wu scored on his Chinese Super League debut, in a 4–1 away defeat at
Beijing Guoan. Wu scored a hat-trick on 2 June 2013 in a 6–1 win against
Shanghai Shenxin, becoming the second youngest player to score a hat-trick in the top tier. He scored his second hat-trick of the season on 18 August 2013 in a 3–2 win against
Tianjin Teda. He scored his third hat-trick of the season on 27 September 2013 in a 6–1 win against
Qingdao Jonoon. On 31 July 2016, Wu became the first Chinese footballer in over two years to score a hat-trick in the
Chinese Super League in a 3–3 draw against
Guangzhou R&F. On 18 March 2018, he scored four goals in a 5–2 win against Guangzhou R&F, becoming the second Chinese footballer to score four goals in a league match after
Li Jinyu. On 11 August 2018, Wu scored his 89th Chinese Super League goal in a 2–0 home win against
Shanghai Greenland Shenhua, becoming the competition's record goalscorer, surpassing previous record of 88 by former
Shandong Luneng striker
Han Peng. Wu won the
2018 Chinese Super League with SIPG, while he also won the Golden Boot award with 27 goals, becoming the first Chinese footballer to win the award since Li Jinyu in 2007. Wu was also named as the Chinese Football Association Footballer of the Year at the end of the season, becoming the first Chinese footballer to win the award since
Du Zhenyu in 2007.
RCD Espanyol On 28 January 2019, Wu transferred to
La Liga side
RCD Espanyol for a reported fee of €2 million, signing a three-year contract with an option for an additional year. He made his debut for the club on 3 February 2019 in a 2–2 draw against
Villarreal, coming on as a substitute for his teammate,
Dídac Vilà in the 77th minute. It was watched by more than 40 million people in China, as he was one of the very few Chinese players to play outside of Asia. He became the second Chinese footballer to play in La Liga after
Zhang Chengdong. On 9 February 2019, he came on as a substitute and earned a penalty which produced the equalizer in a 2–1 win against
Rayo Vallecano. On 17 February 2019, Wu became the first Chinese footballer to start a La Liga match in a 0–0 draw against
Valencia CF. Wu scored his first goal for the club on 2 March 2019 in a 3–1 win against
Real Valladolid, becoming the first Chinese footballer to score in La Liga. On 24 April 2019, Wu scored his second goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against
Celta. On 18 May 2019, Wu scored his third goal for the club in a 2–0 win against
Real Sociedad, securing Espanyol's spot in the
2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying stages. On 25 July 2019, Wu made his
UEFA Europa League debut in the qualifying rounds in a 4–0 win against
Stjarnan, coming on as a substitute for
Esteban Granero. A month later, he scored his first goal in the same competition in a 3–0 win against
Luzern. His goal, a header in the third minute, was the fastest in the club's European history and was also the first goal scored by a Chinese footballer in any European continental competition since 2013. On 3 October 2019, Wu became the first Chinese footballer ever to score in European competition, excluding qualifying stages, scoring in a 2–0 win against
CSKA Moscow. On 4 January 2020, Wu became the first Chinese player to score against
Barcelona, scoring a 88th-minute equaliser for Espanyol after coming on as a substitute in a 2–2 draw. The club suffered relegation at the end of
2019–20 La Liga but made an immediate return in the following year after winning the
2020–21 Segunda División. On 15 August 2021, Wu made his 100th appearance for the club in a 0–0 away draw at
CA Osasuna.
Return to Shanghai Port On 11 August 2022, Wu returned to
Chinese Super League club
Shanghai Port signing a contract until 2027. On 20 September 2022, Wu made his second debut for Shanghai Port in a 2–1 win against
Henan Songshan Longmen. On 29 September 2022, he scored his first 2 goals after returning in a 3–0 win against
Chengdu Rongcheng. On 24 October 2022, he scored a hat trick in a 7–0 win against
Meizhou Hakka. On 29 October 2023, Wu won his second league title with Shanghai Port after a 1-1 home draw against direct competitor
Shandong Taishan. On 4 November 2023, he came on as a substitute and scored twice in a 3-2 away win against
Dalian Professional which saw the relegation of the opponent; his second goal in the game was his 200th for the club and also his 131st in the Chinese Super League, which again tied him with former teammate
Elkeson as the top goal scorer of Chinese top-division history. On 21 September 2024, Wu scored a brace in a 4-3 away win against
Changchun Yatai, brought his league tally of the season to 31 goals, surpassing
Eran Zahavi's record of 29 goals in 2019 as the highest goalscorer in a single Chinese Super League season. On 2 November 2024, Wu scored another brace in a 5-0 home win against
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger in the final league game of the season, helped Shanghai Port become the second team to successfully defend the Chinese Super league title, and ended his own league tally with 34 goals. Wu missed out the 2024 Chinese FA Cup final against
Shandong Taishan due to injuries, but as the team won 3-1 he still garnered the first Chinese FA Cup trophy in his career. As of the end of the 2024 season, Wu is Chinese Super League's all-time goalscorer with 165 goals. ==International career==