[2] After starting three consecutive games, Zhang scored his first goal on 22 February 2013 in a 3–2 win against Niort which turned out to be the match winner.

In November 2013, Swiss Super League side FC Sion announced Zhang had signed a contract with the club after Le Mans lost its professional status; however, Zhang could not register for the club because they had already reached the maximum 25 players allowed in the squad.

On 24 December 2014, Zhang transferred to fellow Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande after Dalian was relegated at the end of the 2014 season.

[5] He was used as a rotation player at the beginning of 2015 season; however, he didn't appear for Guangzhou after Luiz Felipe Scolari became the manager of the club in June 2015.

[11] On 16 April 2020, Zhang transferred to Chinese Super League side Zhejiang FC, the second time he joined the club managed by Jordi Vinyals.