Park Agrees to New Deal With Man U

South Korea's Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung has agreed to a new three-year contract with the English Premier League team, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.

The contract is set to expire on June 30, 2012. The amount of the deal was not revealed under an agreement between the two sides but Yonhap estimated Park's annual salary at about 3.6 million pounds (7.3 billion won) _ up 30 percent from his current 2.8 million pounds per year.

Park, 28, one of the team's key players, had two goals and two assists playing in 25 of the team's 38 games during the 2008-09 regular season. He became the first Asian player ever to play in the Champions League final when Manchester United matched up against FC Barcelona of Spain.

A graduate of Myongji University, Park signed his first professional contract with the J-League's Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2000 for 400 million won. His value has steadily improved since then. He drew attention while playing right wing under Guus Hiddink during the 2002 World Cup. He went on to play for the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven coached by Hiddink for 840 million won.

After helping the Dutch team reach the semifinals of the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League, Park caught the eye of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. The South Korean signed with the English club for 2 million pounds in 2005 and his salary has increased every year.

,