[2] By the 2007 league season, Deng would establish himself within the team and even score his first goal against Qingdao Jonoon in a 1–0 win on 27 March 2007.

[3] While now a regular starter for Wuhan, he found that they were controversially relegated then subsequently disbanded during the 2008 season after the club's management did not accept the punishment given to them by the Chinese Football Association after a scuffle broke out during a match against Beijing Guoan on 27 September 2008.

On 4 December 2009, he was named as the Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year and would then transfer to Shandong Luneng shortly after.

He would go on to make his debut on 24 February 2010 against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in an AFC Champions League game that Shandong won 1–0.

On 10 February 2010, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 win against South Korea and help China beat them for the first time, ending the team's Koreaphobia.

[16] On 4 June 2010, Deng scored from a direct free kick in a 1–0 win against France, condemning the latter to a shock defeat.