Celtic could have three Koreans playing for them this season… Kwon Hyuk-kyu announces signing
This season in European professional soccer, there are three Korean players on the field at the same time. It is at the prestigious Scottish club Celtic FC.
On the 24th, the club announced that it had “signed Kwon Hyuk-kyu (22) on a five-year contract.” He was assigned the number 22. Kwon’s move to Celtic was announced by his club, Busan I-Park (K League 2), on April 18. The transfer fee is €1 million (approximately $1.4 billion). Celtic won their eighth treble in the Scottish league in the 2022-23 season, winning the regular season, Scottish Cup (FA Cup), and League Cup. If they were to compete in the English Premier League (EPL), they would be considered a mid-table team.
The signing of Kwon Hyuk-kyu makes Celtic the first club to have three Korean players in its squad, joining forward Oh Hyun-gyu, 22, who joined from Suwon Samsung in January, and Gangwon FC forward Yang Hyun-joon, 21, who announced his move to Celtic on May 15. Celtic are no strangers to Korean fans, having previously had midfielder Ki Sung-yueng (34, FC Seoul) and defender Cha Doo-ri (43, Korea National Football Team coordinator).
Celtic have been monitoring Kwon Hyuk-gyu for some time, having made a bid for him in December last year. The defensive midfielder made his professional debut for Busan in 2019, when he was a senior at Kaesong High School. He has three goals and two assists in 76 games in the K League. He is 1.90 meters tall and 77 kilograms with a solid physique and excellent foot skills. The fact that he played for the military team Gimcheon Sangsang in the 2021-22 season and resolved his military service issue was also an advantage for his move to Europe.
Celtic have brought in several players from Japan’s J-League in recent years, with good results. This year, they’ve turned to Korean players. There are currently six Korean-Japanese players on the Celtic roster, including Oh Hyun-gyu and Japanese players Maeda Daisen, Furuhashi Kyogo, Iwata Tomoki, Hatate Leo, and Kobayashi Yuki. Add to that the names of Yang Hyun-joon and Kwon Hyuk-gyu, and you have a total of eight East Asian players at Celtic. 먹튀검증
“I enjoyed watching Ki Sung-yong play for Celtic when I was younger, and I’m happy to be part of the team,” said Kwon Hyuk-gyu. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said: “Yang Hyun-joon and Kwon Hyuk-gyu are players we have been following for a long time. We look forward to seeing them make an impact at Celtic,” said Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers.