Veteran defender Park Ji-soo joins Portuguese club Portimonense

Park Ji-soo poses in the Portimonense jersey. [YONHAP]

Portuguese club Portimonense S.C. announced Wednesday that they have signed Korean defender Park Ji-soo.

While Portimonense did not reveal the transfer fee for Park, the club did announce that he was signed on a one-and-a half-year deal. He will wear number 23 at the club.

Twenty-eight-year-old Park had been playing for the Suwon Samsung Bluewings before he joined the Sangmu military club to complete his military service in June 2021. He was not under contract after finishing his military service in December 2022.

The Korean defender’s move to Portugal comes as a surprise since he had been linked with clubs in the Chinese Super League.

Park is entering the European football stage for the first time in his career after playing in Korea for nearly a decade. The only other non-Korean club he played for is Guangzhou FC in China in 2019.

“The facilities and everything here are good, and the coaching staff have been nice to me,” Park said at a press conference Wednesday.

With Park joining the Portuguese side, there are now two Korean defenders playing in top-tier Europan clubs: Park and Kim Min-jae of Napoli.

Park made his national team debut in 2018 and has 14 caps. He was even called for the national team’s friendly match against Iceland on Nov. 11 last year, but was dropped from the 2022 Qatar World Cup squad due to an injury he suffered in that match.

After arriving in Europe, Park will likely be included in his team’s starting lineup frequently as the Portuguese side needs to reinforce its defense urgently.

Park could strengthen the team’s defense that conceded 10 goals in their five recent fixtures.

Portimonese are sitting in 12th place on the 18-team Portuguese Primeira Liga table as of Jan. 26. The team will play their next game against Boavista at Estádio do Bessa in Porto on Sunday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]