By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Ki Sung-yueng will finally join Scottish powerhouse Celtic FC on Dec. 23 and could make his debut with the club as early as Jan. 3 against Glasgow rival Rangers.
"Ki is training with the Olympic team for a friendly against Japan on Dec 19," Ki's agency IB Sports told the Korea Times. "After that, Ki will take part in a welcoming ceremony and press conference in Seoul on Dec. 21. Celtic officials will be at the ceremony," added the agent.
At the ceremony, the 20-year-old Asian Football Confederation's youth player of the year will officially sign a contract with the club and be presented with his uniform.
It's the first time that a Korean player moving to a foreign league will have a welcoming ceremony in Korea. According to his agency, it's a reflection of the expectations that Celtic has for him.
The former FC Seoul midfielder was in Glasgow last week to have a physical. He can't officially join Celtic until the transfer window opens in January. On Jan. 1, he will officially be registered as a player in the Scottish football league.
"I'm looking forward to playing for Celtic," Ki said last week. "It's my first time playing for a European team and it's really important for me.
"All I'm really looking for it that I must win the Scottish Cup. I've still got a long way to go and I must adapt to the new environment as quickly as I can."
Ki will be looking to crack a lineup that already includes midfielders such as Scottish national team player Scott Brown, Cameroon international Landry Ngeumo, Chinese footballer Zheng Zhi and Marc Crosas of Spain.
Brown is currently out with an injury and won't return until February and N'Geumo is used primarily in a defensive role, so Ki will likely be competing with Zheng and Crosas for playing time at first.
It's expected that Celtic will pay FC Seoul a transfer fee of about 2 million euros (3.6 billion won) and will pay Ki an annual salary of 870,000 euros (1.5 billion won) for the next four years.