Following Oh Hyun-gyu (22) and Yang Hyun-joon (21), Busan I-Park midfielder Kwon Hyuk-kyu (22) will wear the green stripes of Scottish club Celtic in professional soccer’s K League 2 (second division).
According to Busan on the 19th, the club has agreed on Kwon’s transfer to Celtic, and Kwon will leave the country soon after finalizing the contract and other related procedures.
The transfer fee is reportedly in the neighborhood of 1 million euros (about 1.42 billion won) and the contract is for four years with a one-year extension option.
The 190-centimeter defensive midfielder has been touted as the “Rodri of the K League (Manchester City)” due to his physique and quick feet.
He has been capped by the national team at every age group and played in the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers and tournament.
Kwon did not make the final roster for Hwang Sun-hong’s Hangzhou Asian Games squad, but has already completed his military service with Gimcheon Commerce.
Kwon became the first player from Busan’s youth program to go straight from Busan to the European stage.
After graduating from Busan’s youth team, Kaesong High School, Kwon signed a semi-professional contract with Busan and made his K League debut in 2019.
Kwon joins Oh Hyun-gyu, who joined from Suwon Samsung in January, and Yang Hyun-jun, who announced his move from Gangwon FC on May 15, as the third South Korean player to play for Celtic.
Celtic, who previously had Ki Sung-yueng (FC Seoul) and Cha Doo-ri (retired), 먹튀검증 have been having a lot of fun signing players from the Japanese J-League in recent years, and this year they are actively courting Korean players.
There are currently six Korean-Japanese players on the Celtic roster, including Oh Hyun-gyu and Japanese players Maeda Daizen, Furuhashi Kyogo, Iwata Tomoki, Hatate Leo, and Kobayashi Yuki.
Add to that the names of Yang Hyun-joon and Kwon Hyuk-kyu, and you have a total of eight East Asian players playing for Celtic.