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Veteran forward Joo Min-kyu joins Daejeon Hana Citizen

Published: 05 Jan. 2025, 18:11

PAIK JI-HWAN
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A picture of Joo Min-kyu shared on Daejeon Hana Citizen's official Instagram account on Jan. 5. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Veteran forward Joo Min-kyu has joined Daejeon Hana Citizen on an undisclosed deal from K League 1 reigning champions Ulsan HD, the Daejeon club announced Sunday.

“Fans cheer so passionately here to the extent that many fans call it [Daejeon] a football special city,” Joo said in a statement shared on the club’s official Instagram account. “I could feel that the fans are sincere, so their influence played a big part in choosing this team.”

Joo, 34, regularly scores inside the penalty box with effective positioning skills and also creates space for fellow forwards to finish the job.

Joo joins Daejeon on the back of 10 goals and five assists across 33 league fixtures in the 2024 season. Last season’s performance reflects his consistently strong performance in the league. Joo won the K League 1 top scorer title twice in 2021 and 2023.

The forward started his career at then-K League 2 club Goyang Hi FC — now disbanded — in 2013 and moved to fellow second-tier club Seoul E-Land in 2015. He showcased a solid performance during his stint with the capital side and his spell at military club Sangju Sangmu — now Gimcheon Sangmu — allowing him to join K League 1 team Ulsan in 2019.

He failed to outshine his fellow Ulsan players, however, and made a move to then-K League 2 team Jeju United in 2020, where his form started to kick off.

After three seasons with Jeju, including his top scorer title winning season in 2021, he returned to Ulsan in 2023 and contributed to the club's league title winning runs in 2023 and 2024.

The veteran forward previously failed to receive a national team duty call despite strong performances during his top scorer title winning seasons, but he made it onto the squad in March last year as the oldest player to do so, at the age of 33 years and 333 days.

He has made eight caps since then, picking up two goals and three assists.

An attack-boosted Daejeon will kick of their 2025 season journey in February after finishing the 2024 campaign in eighth place on the 12-team table last year.

The upcoming season will be the club’s third season after earning promotion to the top tier.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]