Young midfielder Seo Jong-min joins Norwegian club Haugesund

Seo Jong-min poses in a photo shared on FK Haugesund's official Instagram account on Wednesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Seo Jong-min has signed a three-year deal with Norwegian football team FK Haugesund, the club announced Wednesday.

Seo joins Haugesund from 3. Liga team SG Dynamo Dresden. The 3. Liga is the third division of German football.

“Seo is an exciting player. He has good one-on-one skills, good physique and a good shot,” FK Haugesund Sporting Director Eirik Opedal said in a statement in Norwegian Wednesday translated using Google Translate. “He missed the season warm-up in Dresden as a result of a shoulder injury and never got playing time in the autumn, but now we hope to bring out the best of what lives in him as a winger here in Haugesund.

"We have not looked in the direction of Asia in the past, but it is a continent that is seeing a rise in the world of football, and it will only become more relevant in the future.”

The 21-year-old midfielder started his pro career at Dynamo Dresden in the 2021-22 season, but failed to establish himself as a regular pick there, moving to Austrian team FC Wacker Innsbruck in 2022 on loan.

He played 11 league matches for Wacker Innsbruck and recorded four goals, but a severe injury he picked up in July 2022 forced him to miss the entire 2022-23 season.

Following his return from injury in the 2023-24 season, he barely saw any playing time with Dynamo Dresden, playing zero league matches and only appearing in two Saxony Cup games and scoring one goal.

FK Haugesund play in the Norwegian Eliteserien — the top tier in the country’s football league system and the place where Manchester City's Erling Haaland first honed his skills — but the club has yet to win the league title.

The team finished in 12th place on the 16-team table in the 2023 season that ended in December last year.

An Eliteserien season runs in one calendar year, with the 2024 season set to run from April 1 through Dec. 1.

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