Celtic have been handed a lift of their bid to convey Kwon Hyeok-kyu to Parkhead within the January switch window.
What’s the discuss?
That’s in keeping with the participant’s agent, who revealed in a current interview with South Korean publication Sports activities Chosun (through the Glasgow Evening Times) that, following earlier reviews that Ange Postecoglou had ‘fallen in love’ with the defensive midfielder, the 21-year-old is now “preserving all choices open” within the winter market – one thing that’s positive to come back as a lift to the Hoops.
Kwon’s agent went on so as to add: “Scouts from small and medium leagues in Europe are on the lookout for expertise within the Ok-League. In contrast to prior to now, gamers additionally need to take their place on the European stage by levels quite than going on to the large leagues.”
Celtic’s subsequent diamond
Contemplating simply how thrilling a prospect Kwon has very a lot confirmed himself to be in current seasons, coupled with Postecoglou having already unearthed quite a few diamonds from Asia throughout his tenure at Parkhead, the argument that the Busan IPark starlet may very well be the 57-year-old supervisor’s subsequent gem within the switch market is a straightforward one to make.
Certainly, over his 19 Ok League 1 appearances whereas on mortgage at Gimcheon Sangmu final yr, the £450k-rated expertise extremely impressed, making a median of 1.7 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, 1.1 clearances and profitable 3.7 duels – at successful charge of 56% – per recreation.
The 21-year-old additionally impressed with the ball at his ft, creating one massive probability, along with having fun with a median of 40.4 touches per match and finishing 88% of his passes.
These returns noticed the participant who journalist Barry Anderson described as one in every of South Korea’s “vibrant prospects attributable to his high-tempo play, method and physique” common a particularly spectacular Sofascore match score of 6.83, rating him as Gimcheon Sangmu’s 11th-best performer within the prime flight of Korean soccer in 2022.
As such, following the success of the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda following their very own respective strikes from the Far East, contemplating simply how spectacular Kwon was in Korea final day out, the teen may properly show to be Celtic’s subsequent massive discovery from Asia – ought to the Hoops handle to get a deal over the road this winter.