Paik Seung-ho to travel to Birmingham this weekend: Reports

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Paik Seung-ho to travel to Birmingham this weekend: Reports

Published: 25 Jan. 2024, 13:46

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Paik Seung-ho takes a free kick during a K League game against Suwon FC at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla on May 21, 2023. [NEWS1]

Korean midfielder Paik Seung-ho will fly to Britain this weekend to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City, according to reports Thursday.

Korean newspaper Dong-a Ilbo reported Thursday that Paik is set to travel to Birmingham this weekend to sign a deal that will see him play for the club through the end of the 2026 season.

The newspaper quoted Paik’s agency Brion Company in the article, although the agency refused to confirm the report when contacted by the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Paik, a product of the Barcelona academy and current star of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, was linked to Birmingham earlier in the week in multiple reports, again initially reported by Dong-a.

The potential move would make Paik the second Korean player in the Championship, alongside Stoke City’s Bae Jun-ho, and the third on Birmingham’s books. The club is also home to Choe Yu-ri and Cho So-hyun on the women’s team.

Generally playing as a center midfielder, Paik, 26, joined Jeonbuk ahead of the 2021 K League season after spending his formative years bouncing around Europe.

Coming up through the Barcelona youth system — he originally joined the U-13 team in 2010 — Paik struggled to see much game time with the Spanish club, falling foul of FIFA’s Article 19 “Protection of Minors” policy and ending up benched for years.

He eventually made two appearances for Barcelona’s B team before being traded to Girona in 2017, making 54 appearances for reserve team Peralada and just six for Girona, before joining 2. Bundesliga side Darmstadt 98 in 2019.

Paik saw some success in his early days with Darmstadt, racking up 41 appearances and two goals over two seasons, but his pitch time decreased over time and he was eventually released in the middle of his second season with the club.

Things did not immediately improve when he returned to Korea. Paik joined Jeonbuk in the spring of 2021, but was then dropped from the Korean U-23 squad two months later — as was fellow Barcelona-trainee-turned-European-dropout Lee Seung-woo.

But Paik turned things around when he arrived in the K League, carving out a spot in the center of the Jeonbuk midfield and winning the title with in 2021 and the FA Cup in 2022. He has made 82 appearances for the club over the past three seasons, scoring nine goals and picking up six assists.

Paik also worked his way back into the Korean national football team, racking up 15 appearances in total, 12 of those in the last two years. He has scored three goals, two in friendlies against Iceland and Moldova in January 2022, and a career-highlight screamer against Brazil in the Round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

On the U-23 side, Paik was called up to the Hangzhou Asian Games squad as a wildcard pick last year and went on to captain the team at the Asiad. He led Korea to the top of the podium, earning a crucial mandatory military service exemption for every player in the squad.

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