Who is rumored Hull City target Song Min-kyu?

Football

Published: 23 Jul. 2024, 11:25 Updated: 23 Jul. 2024, 11:30

Who is rumored Hull City target Song Min-kyu?

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors forward Song Min-kyu shoots during the 2023 Korean FA Cup final against the Pohang Steelers at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang on Nov. 4, 2023. [YONHAP]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors forward Song Min-kyu has been linked with Championship side Hull City, according to an exclusive report by Korean newspaper Sports Donga on Monday.

Multiple unnamed sources the newspaper cited said that the two clubs have held talks on the transfer of Song since last month and his move to Europe is close.

A move to Hull City would mark his first transfer overseas after having spent six years in the K League since his professional debut at the Pohang Steelers in 2018.

Song, 24, can pursue his career in Europe uninterrupted as he earned military exemption by winning a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

The absence of Song could deal a huge blow to struggling Jeonbuk — sitting in 10th on the 12-team K League 1 table as of press time Tuesday — as he has displayed solid form despite the team’s poor run.

Just who is Song and how well has he played in the K League?

Steelers days

It took a while for Song to find his footing. He did not immediately shine in his debut K League 1 season in 2018 at the Steelers, playing just three fixtures with zero goals or assists.

The 2019 season saw Song establishing himself as a regular pick, but his yet-to-be-notable performance only allowed him to record two goals and three assists across 27 league matches.

But the 2020 campaign was different, with the forward playing 31 matches across all competitions during which he racked up 11 goals and seven assists that earned him the K League Young Player of the Year Award.

Then-Pohang Steelers forward Song Min-kyu celebrates scoring a goal during a K League 1 match against Incheon United at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang on Feb. 28, 2021. [NEWS1]

While he stayed at the Pohang side until the first half of the 2021 season, he had yet to win a single trophy.

Joining Jeonbuk

Song joined Jeonbuk, who had won the K League 1 four straight times, in the summer transfer window of the 2021 season. A K League campaign runs in one calendar year from March to December of that same year.

Song Min-kyu poses with the K League 1 trophy. [JEONBUK HYUNDAI MOTORS]

His first season at Jeonbuk was a success, playing as a regular pick en route to the club's 2021 K League 1 title. He added one more trophy the following season, winning the 2022 Korean FA Cup — now called the Korea Cup.

Song became a core part of the team’s attack in the 2023 season during which he scored nine goals in 33 matches as the team’s top scorer, although it was his first trophyless season at Jeonbuk.

Despite Jeonbuk's tumble from grace in the first half of the 2024 campaign, Song has maintained good form so far this season with four goals and six assists in 19 league fixtures. His contributions have helped his team climb up the table in recent weeks after spending multiple spells at the bottom.

National team career

Song has not been a regular senior national team pick, but he still played at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Asian Games — that took place last year after a one-year delay — at the U-23 level and earned military exemption by winning a gold medal at the Asiad.

Korea's Song Min-kyu, left, vies for the ball during the final of the men's football tournament at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Oct. 8, 2023. [NEWS1]

At the senior level, he has made 13 caps since his senior team debut in June 2021 but has mostly played in World Cup qualifiers, making it as far as the bench in the 2022 World Cup run.

The Jeonbuk forward did not make it onto the squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Playing style

Playing as a winger, Song’s forte includes countering pressure, creating space and positioning skills that allow him to maintain the flow of a build-up and score in the penalty area.

His aggressive run and good headers have also seen him get on the scoresheet multiple times. The ability to progress a build-up with strength is also notable, but he is not the type of winger who dribbles past a defender in a one-on-one as he lacks pace.

A lack of defensive factors has been an issue at times.

What will the absence of Song bring to Jeonbuk?

His departure to Hull City will leave Jeonbuk to find a replacement, before continuing their run to avoid relegation in the second half of the regular season that ends in November.

Suwon FC midfielder Lee Seung-woo, who looks set to join Jeonbuk with Korean media reporting that he will complete the move, is a player who could fill in the vacancy with a good performance in the first half of the campaign during which he scored 10 goals in 18 league games.

If the deal with Hull City goes through, Song will join the Championship side ahead of the 2024-25 season that kicks off in August.

His move would also set the stage for a Korean derby against Swansea City midfielder Eom Ji-sung and Stoke City midfielder Bae Jun-ho.

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