Korean youngster Yang Min-hyeok joins QPR on loan from Tottenham
Published: 30 Jan. 2025, 12:19
Updated: 30 Jan. 2025, 16:40
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![Yang Min-hyeok poses with his QPR jersey in a photo shared on the club's official Instagram account on Jan. 29. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/30/454259a1-2fa8-4305-a195-80ede47cadbf.jpg)
Yang Min-hyeok poses with his QPR jersey in a photo shared on the club's official Instagram account on Jan. 29. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Korean midfielder Yang Min-hyeok has joined Championship team QPR on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, QPR announced Wednesday.
Yang, 18, will spend the remainder of the 2024-25 season at QPR. Whether QPR signed Yang with an option to make the move permanent is unclear, as the club did not mention it in a statement released on its website Wednesday.
“I am really happy to be here, and I will try to do my best for the team,” Yang said in the statement. “I have great memories of Korean legend Ji-sung Park, who used to play here. I really want to play and show up in the matches regularly.”
The loan move comes after Yang failed to make his debut for Spurs after joining last month from K League 1 club Gangwon FC. He did not clock up a single minute, even against fifth-tier Tamworth in the FA Cup on Jan. 12, and only made it as far as the bench in two Premier League fixtures.
Making his debut for QPR would mark his first time playing overseas, having made his professional debut at Gangwon in June last year.
The Korean midfielder racked up 12 goals and six assists across 38 league fixtures for Gangwon in the 2024 K League 1 season, which brought him to Spurs' attention and made him the youngest Korean to join a Premier League club at 18 years and 103 days.
![Gangwon FC midfielder Yang Min-hyuk dribbles the ball during the K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen at Chuncheon Songam Sports Town in Gangwon on May 11, 2024. [GANGWON FC]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/30/810c8a4d-ddb2-4126-b05f-2e2b3373ed21.jpg)
Gangwon FC midfielder Yang Min-hyuk dribbles the ball during the K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen at Chuncheon Songam Sports Town in Gangwon on May 11, 2024. [GANGWON FC]
His notable performance even earned him inclusion in the senior Korean national team, although he did not feature in any game. He still represented Korea at the U-17 level, making appearances at the AFC U-17 Asian Cup and the U-17 World Cup in 2023.
He has yet to earn the military exemption required to pursue his overseas career uninterrupted. A gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games or a bronze at the 2028 Olympics would clear his path.
Yang now has the second half of the 2024-25 Championship season to showcase his forte — using agility to break through defenses and apply pressure.
His move to QPR also sets the stage for Korean derbies against Bae Jun-ho’s Stoke City and Eom Ji-sung’s Swansea City. The match against Stoke is scheduled for March 30, followed by the clash against Swansea on April 21.
QPR, sitting in 13th place in the 24-team league table, must climb higher in the standings to have a chance of earning promotion to the top tier. The top two teams win automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the third to sixth-place teams enter a playoff tournament to determine the final promotion spot.
The club has not competed in the Premier League since the 2014-15 season and has struggled in the second tier over the years, with a ninth-place finish in the 2020-21 campaign remaining their best result since relegation.
Yang will wear number 47 at QPR, the same number he wore at Gangwon. The earliest he can make his Championship debut is on Sunday when QPR face Millwall.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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