By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
It looks like Reading midfielder Seol Ki-hyeon will wear a Fullham jersey for the upcoming Premiership season.
After losing midfielder Michael Brown to Wigan in the summer transfer market, Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez has been looking to give his new-look squad a boost and he seems to have narrowed his acquisition targets to Seol and Newcastle attacker Charles N'Zogbia.
Seol, who joined Reading in a 1.5 million pound ($3 million) deal in July last year, had expressed frustration over diminishing playing time as the season progressed and never was too passionate about describing his loyalty to the Royals.
The club was also upset that the 28-year-old South Korean international talked to the local media about leaving the team during its Peace Cup tour here last month, which may have burned his bridges for good.
According to reports by British news outlets, Fulham are believed to have offered Reading 1 million pounds for Seol. N'Zogbia is expected to cost around 3 million pounds.
Seol, currently recovering from a heel injury, said he would welcome a change of scenery.
``Fulham wants me and I would be happy to play for them,'' Seol told the Associated Press.
``There is a chance I will start the season as a Fulham player. I want to play every week.''
Sanchez has been spending aggressively in the transfer market, with his biggest acquisition being Senegal striker Henry Kamara who was brought in for six million pounds. Seol, a mobile and physical attacker who is effective on both sides of the flank, could be the club's answer on the wings to support the striker duo of Kamara and David Healy, another new acquisition.
Seol finished his first Premiership season with four goals and four assists in 27 games, establishing himself as an integral part of Reading's attack although he lost his first-team place at the later part of the season.
Fulham has also been linked to talks over acquiring another Korean player, Ulsan Hyundai winger Lee Chun-soo, although the talks fell through at the last moment.
Adding a Korean player would certainly please Fulham's Korean sponsor LG Electronics, which is believed to have backed the talks over Lee. The team would obviously prefer a proven player such as Seol, who at 1 million pounds, is still a relative bargain.