Son Heung-Min has just announced the breakup of Tottenham after 10 years of attachment, but Newcastle brought back Park Seung-soo from Suwon Samsung Bluewings. The flow of Korean players will constantly since Park Ji Sung became a pioneer when joining MU in 2005.
After the recent transfer of Park Seung-soo from Suwon Samsung Bluewings to Newcastle United, he became the 20th Korean player to sign a contract with a Premier League club in the past two decades.
Since Man United recruited Park Ji-sung in 2005 and the successes he brought, many other Korean players have followed and set foot in the highest rank of English football.
Now, before the match between Tottenham and Newcastle in Seoul on Sunday, August 3 – the first time the two Premier League clubs confront each other in the framework of the Coupang Play Series – this is the ideal time to look back on the influence that Korean players have created in the Premier League and the recognition they deserve to have in the world.
2000s: Pioneers
After the Korean team reached the 2002 World Cup semi -final at home, football in this East Asia country changed permanently. What happened later in the next few years contributed to shaping the country's football identity.
Park Ji-sung resonated in the international arena with a decisive goal against Portugal at the World Cup, a goal that was often reviewed and remembered affectionately after years. He was a star in his hometown and proved his ability in Europe to win two championship Eredivisie and PSV Eindhoven, as well as scoring against AC Milan in the Champions League semi -finals.
However, when the legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson decided to bring him back to Old Trafford for a modest fee of 4 million pounds, many fans were still skeptical.
“I want to prove my value at Man United with capacity, not as a marketing strategy for the Asian market. I came to England not for business,” the Korean midfielder affirmed after signing the contract. “Manchester United is the most famous club in the world. I am having the opportunity to play football in a team full of top players.”
In fact, Park's influence at Man United deserves to be written into a separate chapter. He won all titles and made every doubt must be silent. With energetic play, relentless operations, Park is nicknamed “Park Ba Lung”. He and the Red Devils won 4 Premier League, 1 Champions League and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.
Park's teammate at the Korean team and PSV, defender Lee Young-Pyo, also arrived at the Premier League a season later, when moving from Eindhoven to London, joining Tottenham.
This left -back is the one who opens the predestined relationship between Spurs and the Korean players, thanks to the speed and technique as a full -back. He participated in the Tottenham squad to win the League Cup in 2008 after defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the final.
The next name is Seol Ki-hyeon. Despite leaving a mark in the UK First Division, his shine in the Premier League only lasted for a short. In the 2006/07 season, this winger scored 4 goals and had 4 assists for Reading. This is his most memorable achievement in the tournament, including the goal against West Ham and Sheffield United.
Lee Dong-Gook, the most goalscorer in K League 1, is the next person to join the Premier League when moving from Pohang Steelers to Middlesbrough in January 2007. This is also the first time a player shifts straight from K League 1 to the Premier League, demonstrating the growing attraction of the domestic tournament in Korea.
Although the time in the UK was unsuccessful, the deal opened the door for Premier League clubs to explore the Korean player market. Bolton Wanderers took advantage of that opportunity to recruit Lee Chung-Yong from FC Seoul in 2009, and this was really a wise chess country.
2010: The era of superstars
Lee Chung-Yong quickly became the next Korean star in the Premier League, with 10 times directly participating in the goal (scoring and creating) at the launch season. That excellent performance helped him win Bolton's best player award in 2010.
At the 2010 World Cup, he continued to score against Argentina and Uruguay, and the nickname “Blue Dragon” became even more prominent. In the peak play, Lee had more than 100 appearances in the Premier League in Bolton and Crystal Palace. Up to now, despite being 37 years old, he is still playing the top in K League 1 for Ulsan HD.
Lee's teammate at the Korean team, Park Chu-young, then also moved to the Premier League when signing a contract with Arsenal. However, his time here is a disaster when only one appearance in the English Premier League, before having to leave in silence.
After the impressive performance at the 2011 Asian Cup with 4 goals and 2 assists, Ji Dong-Won was recruited by Sunderland from Jeonnam Dragons in the summer of the same year.
His most memorable moments in the Premier League are goals against Chelsea and especially Man City, when Ji scored a goal to win the victory after coming on the bench. However, like many other Korean players, he also gradually faded after the promising start.
The other two names, Yun Suk-Young and Kim Bo-Kyung, were only bright in the Premier League short time. Yun plays a season for QPR and Kim plays for Cardiff City, with the most memorable moment is the equalizer in the injury time before Man United 2013.
Then, Ki Sung-Yueng's period, a Korean midfielder, has left a deep impression in the Premier League. Ki played a total of 9 seasons in the UK, wearing Swansea City, Sunderland and Newcastle United, with nearly 200 appearances in the highest tournament in the foggy country.
The 2014/15 season was his peak period when he scored 8 goals in the Swansea shirt, including a double against Man United. This is a clear evidence for the ability to play flexibly in both the defensive midfielder and the central midfielder.
In the 2015/16 season marking the new era, the era of Son Heung-min, when Tottenham recruited him from Bayer Leverkusen, made him the most expensive Asian player in history at that time. In 10 seasons for the North London team, Son did everything. 127 goals, 77 assists after 333 matches are the numbers that help him become one of the greatest legends ever played in the Premier League.
At the age of 33, the leader of the Korean team helped Tottenham end the thirst for the title lasting 17 years when defeating Man United to win the UEFA Europa League championship in May. Son is also a great contributor to Spurs to reach the Champions League final in the 2018/19 season. At his personal level, he is considered the greatest Korean player of all time.
From the FIFA Puskas Award in 2020 to the title of Premier League Golden Shoes in 2022, “Sonny” has become a familiar name around the world and is a symbol of Korean football reaching unthinkable heights.
2020: The future is calling the name
While Son Heung-min's Dynasty in the Premier League is about to close with a contract that is expected to take him to the MLS (USA), his teammates in Korea, Hwang Hee-Chan, are still playing in England in Wolves.
The star born in 1996 has just experienced the best season in the Premier League 2023/24 with 12 goals and 3 assists, and also becomes the latest Korean player to reach the 100 matches in the most attractive tournament on the planet.
The success of seniors like Park Ji-sung, Ki Sung-yueng, or Son Heung-min itself opened the vast door for young Korean talents. More and more big clubs in the Premier League actively approach and recruit stars directly from K League. This is something that used to be a distant dream for many generations of Asian players.
The most obvious evidence is the last two deals: Yang Min-Hyeok moved from Gangwon FC to Tottenham, while Park Seung-soo left Suwon Samsung Bluewings to join Newcastle United. Both are only teenagers but have been rated as jewels and has the potential to explode in the near future.
Yang Min-Hyeok, the player who won the best young player in K League 1 last season, scored 12 goals and had 6 more assists in the first professional season. He had an unofficial debut with Spurs when he scored against Stoke City and Oxford United in friendly matches at EFL Championship.
Meanwhile, Park Seung-soo is no less competitive when impressed at the U20 Asian Cup earlier this year in the Korean young shirt. Newcastle quickly “down money” and officially announced his signature in late July.
This weekend, Tottenham and Newcastle will confront the Coupang Play Series, a friendly tournament but bring a lot of commercial and professional values, where football fans in Korea and around the world can witness the two young jewels of kimchi football performing talent.
From the first step to the ocean to the billion -dollar contracts, the journey of Korean players in the Premier League is entering a new chapter: the younger generation, great aspirations, and ready to continue writing the legendary story for Asian football.
