Player Profile: Yang Hyun-jun
Glasgow Celtic target to join fellow countryman this summer?
Image from Wikipedia
Emergence
Gangwon FC Wide Forward Yang Hyun-jun burst onto the scene last season with a goal return of 8 in 31 appearances. He smashed the league’s Young Player of the Month award; winning it virtually every month and inevitably was crowned Young Player of the Season for 2022.
The 21 year-old was moulded in the club’s newly formed B team, designed to foster youth talent, in 2021 playing the majority of the season in K4 (4th tier) which led to a handful of appearances in the top tier that season. His 2022 form earned him a place in the league’s All-star team which in this year was against national hero Son Heung-min’s Tottenham Hotspur. His performance in this game is what got people talking, and led to a series of links abroad with concrete interest from MLS’ Minnesota United, but Yang wanted to go to Europe. An inevitable and unfortunate dip in form this season hasn’t seemingly put suitors off as local media report of an offer from Glasgow Celtic, who have been keeping a keen eye on the league since acquiring Oh Hyun-gyu from Suwon Bluewings in the Winter Transfer Window.
This Season
Yang’s club Gangwon FC has struggled this season and have just hired a new manager. K League clubs tend not to stand in the way of player’s wishes when Europe comes calling and in this instance a fair offer will help the club do some much needed reinvestment in the squad in lie in the relegation playoff spot of 11th in the league.
Celtic’s interest has been long rumoured and in April this year a scouting delegation visited the Korean pennisula and attended Gwangju vs Gangwon; the game ended 0-0 with other rumoured scouting of the home team’s Eom Ji-sung and Jeong Ho-yeon also taking place. This game was on the back of Yang’s best two performances of the campaign. The previous game saw him register his first assist of the season with a typical carry from deep into the box before laying it off for a close range finish. The game before saw another example of a typical Yang goal and a dramatic one as well; Yang won the ball off the last defender near the halfway line and then calmly lifted over the onrushing keeper to seal a 96th minute winner. In this fixture the Celtic scouts saw flashes of what he can do on the counter but ultimately a late miss with the goal gaping left perhaps more questions than answers and he hasn’t been at his best since. A nose fracture, being in a struggling team and a home pitch that looked like a rugby pitch in the dead of winter hasn’t helped him reach the heights of last season, but Celtic’s faith hasn’t wavered as they table their offer just a month before the Scottish giants visit Korea for pre-season which will also see them head to Japan - Will we see two Koreans line up for these games?
Playing Style
Undoubtedly his speed is one of his best attributes; he is among several highly-talented young wide forwards in the league but offers something different to the likes of Gwangju’s Eom Ji-sung and Ulsan’s Eom Won-sang. The latter is equally blessed with pace but uses it more to get on the end of balls over the top or in spaces in between the defensive line. Yang as he showed in the aforementioned game against FC Seoul tends to pick up the ball deeper on either flank and run at defenders relying predominantly on his speed to get to the byline and cross into the box.
If you asked me last year I would have said his composure in front of goal was one of his biggest strengths as well, as his 8 goals last year were often controlled finishes when on the run but that composure perhaps down to a drop in confidence has been hard to find this season with noticeable lapses in front of goal against Gwangju and Suwon Bluewings late in games. That while concerning, doesn’t outweigh the potential and positive attributes he displays even when not hitting the heavy heights of last season. The Gangwon number 7 is durable, having only missed a game with a nose fracture which was supposed to keep him out for a month but he ended up missing only one game. He’s also comfortable on both feet giving him the ability to turn either way and beat defenders with some trickery along with his searing pace.
What’s Next?
All signs point towards this move going ahead as neither Yang nor Gangwon are likely to reject it. At 22 the situation is a little more complicated than his potential future teammate Oh; Yang is yet to complete his mandatory 18 month military service required of Korean nationals which means he will likely compete in this year’s Asian Games in September to aim for gold and get military exemption as Son Heung-min did in 2018. Like with Oh, there will be the need for time for adaptation to the new league, culture and language, but one thing is for sure Yang Hyun-jun is an exciting prospect who ripped the league up last year along with those Tottenham defenders in preseason.