Hamstring injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Hwang Hee-chan

Wolverhampton Wanderers' midfielder Hwang Hee-chan receives medical attention during a Premier League match against Liverpool at the Molineux in Wolverhampton, England on Feb. 4. [AFP/YONHAP]

Hwang Hee-chan returned to Korea on Tuesday to get a second opinion on the hamstring injury he sustained last weekend, the latest in a number of injuries to sideline the Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder.

Hwang was taken out of a Premier League game against Liverpool on Saturday when he pulled up in the middle of a run down the win clutching his thigh. Wolves won the game 3-0, with Hwang having forced the early own goal that opened the scoring.

“It’s a pity for us because his injury was a hamstring," manager Julen Lopetegui said after the game. "We don’t know how long he’s going to be out. It was a pity because he’s a very good player, a very different player, he understands us tactically, but that’s why we have a good squad and now we have to choose another player.”

Lopetegui later said Hwang was likely to be out of commission for “a lot of weeks.”

Hwang reportedly flew back to Korea on Tuesday to seek more medical attention and is expected to return to Britain later this week.

A recurring issue for Hwang, the hamstring injury is likely to see him sidelined for a while, a devastatingly-timed injury for the Korean international who is just starting to see things turn around after a difficult year in the Premier League.

Like the rest of the Wolves squad, Hwang has gone through a remarkable turnaround since the Spanish manager took the helm. He immediately returned to a starting spot in the squad and scored his first goal in nearly a year in an FA Cup game — also against Liverpool.

Wolves have won three of their six Premier League games since Lopetegui took charge, more than they did in the previous 15 games of the season under Bruno Lage, who rarely played Hwang during his final months in charge.

Beating Liverpool by such a large margin and so quickly was also remarkable — it was the first time Wolves have one by more than one goal this season, the second time ever the club has gone up by two in less than 12 minutes and the earliest Liverpool have fallen 2-0 down since 2014.

More concerning is the return of hamstring problems for Hwang, who was sidelined with a similar injury just a couple of months ago. Hwang was officially out of commission for a week in November with a hamstring injury, although the far less specific “hamstring discomfort” was used to explain his absence throughout the final stretch leading up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

That discomfort also saw Hwang miss the first couple of games for Korea in Qatar, although he made it back on to the pitch just in time to score the winner against Portugal to carry the Taeguk Warriors through to the knockout stage.

A year earlier, Hwang also struggled with a hamstring injury that took him off the pitch from Dec. 19, 2021, to Feb. 6, 2022, and it was that absence that seemed to kick off his prolonged slump — he scored four goals in the Premier League before the injury and has managed just one in the year since he returned.

Earlier in his career, Hwang spent three separate spells on the injury books at Red Bull Salzburg with potentially hamstring-related injuries, 13 days out with a declared hamstring injury in 2017 and two short spells of “thigh problems” in 2018 and 2020.

Wolves are yet to formally announce how long Hwang is likely to be out of action on this occasion, although that they allowed him to fly back to Korea for a second opinion suggests the injury is a significant concern. Wolves may not release any further information until the club’s medical staff can review the situation later that week.

In the meantime, Wolves will take on Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]