By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Korean national team midfielder Koo Ja-cheol won’t be moving to the English Premier League (EPL) at least not yet.
The Jeju United player had been in negotiations with Blackburn Rovers but the EPL team wants more time to observe the Korean before making a deal.
“The negotiations with Blackburn did not yield results,” said Choi Weol-kyoo, president of Wall Sports, Koo’s agency. “They were very positive and active regarding Koo. But instead of signing him immediately, Blackburn wants to watch him some more.”
The 20-year-old Korean had been scheduled to leave the national team’s training session and fly to England for a workout on Jan. 19 after the game against Finland. But when the workout was canceled due to the weather, Blackburn instead sent an observer to watch Koo in Korea’s games against Finland and Latvia.
“The scout wanted to see more of Koo. And Blackburn wanted to bring him in for a one- or two-day workout. However, because of the tight schedule coming up with the East Asian Championships, we declined,” Choi said.
Though he will stay with Jeju for now, Blackburn is still interested in the midfielder and will continue to scout him in Tokyo at the East Asian Championship and in the K-League.