The possibility of Oh Hyeon-kyu (21), a “sacred star” of Suwon Samsung in the professional soccer K League 1, could transfer to Celtic FC, a prestigious Scottish club, has risen again.
British sports media Sky Sports reported on the 21st that Suwon and Celtic were closer than before to an agreement regarding the transfer of Oh Hyun-kyu. Sky Sports said, “While Oh Hyun-gyu wants to transfer, Celtic has also prepared a plan for a medical test.” According to Sky Sports, Celtic manager Engie Postecoglu said “nothing has been confirmed,” but “we expect further progress in the coming days.”
An official from Suwon said, “Celtic has raised the conditions and proposed again. “We are reviewing it prospectively,” he said, “but there are many issues to consider, such as whether there is a replacement, so we are trying to organize it during the Lunar New Year holiday.”
Oh Hyun-gyu, who signed a semi-professional contract with Suwon in 2019 while attending Maetango, a youth team in Suwon, debuted in the K-League the same year and played 11 games, and solved the military service problem by serving in the military in Sangmu in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Oh Hyun-gyu, who returned to Suwon after being discharged, played in 36 K-League 1 games in the 2022 season and scored 13 goals (3 assists), the most in the team. In particular, in the second round of the promotion playoff against FC Anyang, he saved Suwon from the second division relegation crisis by scoring a winning goal like gold. 안전놀이터
Based on this performance, Oh Hyun-kyu was selected as a reserve member for the 2022 Qatar World Cup and trained with the national team in Qatar. Initially, Oh Hyun-kyu was expected to stay in Suwon, but as Celtic offered good conditions, Suwon also seems to be reconsidering the transfer. According to local reports, Celtic is known to have offered a transfer fee of more than 2.5 million euros (3.4 billion won) and an annual salary about 10 times.
Celtic is a team that has been mentioned as the next destination for Cho Kyu-seong (25, Jeonbuk), who is receiving attention from European leagues through the Qatar World Cup. If Celtic recruits Oh Hyun-kyu, it seems likely that the recruitment of Cho Kyu-seong will cease. On the 16th, Cho Kyu-seong departed for Spain with the Jeonbuk team and is training on-site.
Celtic is well known in Korea as the team that Cha Doo-Ri and Ki Sung-Yeong played for in the past. Celtic, which currently leads the Scottish League with 20 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, has Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi, scoring 17 goals in 20 matches.