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| FC Seoul forward Hwang Ui-jo speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Monday. / Yonhap |
By John Duerden
It has been an interesting few months for Hwang Ui-jo. The striker signed for an English Premier League club just before Qatar 2022. Had things been different then, he could have established himself at Nottingham Forest and then starred in front of a global audience watching the Premier League and also the World Cup. Instead, he has hardly played in Europe and is now back in South Korea with FC Seoul. He must be wondering what exactly happened but must also know that he needs his new club as much as it needs him.
The former Seongnam FC star had three seasons in France with Bordeaux and performed well despite the team dropping down to the second tier last summer. Hwang made it clear that he wanted to leave. In came Nottingham Forest, a storied club in England that had just won promotion back to the English Premier League. The East Midlands team was in the middle of a massive shopping spree and it was decided that Hwang would be loaned out. He was then sent to Greek giant Olympiacos F.C., where he barely played.
That perhaps helped to explain why he looked flat in the opening World Cup game against Uruguay and missed Korea's best chance in a match that finished 0-0. It was the only game he started. He lost his place to Cho Gue-sung who scored twice against Ghana and is now ahead of Hwang in the hierarchy for the national team. The new coach, whomever he may be, is unlikely to go for a player in his thirties, who has hardly played, against a young and rising striker making a name for himself.
After the tournament was over, Hwang returned to Greece where there was minimal playing time and it became clear in January that it was time for a change. As he was still on loan to the Greek side from England, a third move in Europe was not possible meaning that it was either the United States or a return home. There was reported interest from MLS clubs but in the end, he has been loaned to FC Seoul.
The priority for the striker is to get some time on the field and then to start putting the ball into the net. He has often been a striker who goes on scoring streaks, either scoring a lot of goals in a short space of time or being silent for periods.
FC Seoul is in need of goals. This is a team that should be challenging for titles in both Korea and Asia but finished in a lowly ninth place. "We are in talks because we believe there are areas where Hwang Ui-jo can definitely help the team, regardless of the length of his contract," an FC Seoul official told Yonhap during negotiations. "If our negotiations pick up speed, we may even have him for our training camp in Japan or for the start of the season."
FC Seoul and Hwang can help each other in the coming months. The club needs the goals that he should be able to provide and he needs the playing time and support that Seoul can offer.
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