问php preg_replace在foreach循环中不起作用

EN

$i = 0;
foreach ($users as $user) {
   $i++;
   if ($i == count($users)) {
      $string = '<span>The number is $i</span>';
      $string = preg_replace('/\<span.*?\/>$/e','',$string);
      echo $string;
   }
}

// Start the output buffer to catch the output from the loop
ob_start();

$i = 0;
foreach ($users as $user) {
  $i++;
  // Do stuff
}

// Stop the output buffer and get the loop output as a string
$loopOutput = ob_get_clean();

// Output everything in the correct order
echo '<span>The number is '.$i.'</span>'.$loopOutput;