Dutch club Feyenoord signs 17-year-old Boin High School student Bae Seung-gyun

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Dutch club Feyenoord signs 17-year-old Boin High School student Bae Seung-gyun

Published: 09 Apr. 2025, 13:34 Updated: 09 Apr. 2025, 17:27

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Bae Seung-gyun poses in a photo shared on Feyenoord's official X account on April 8. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Feyenoord signed 17-year-old Korean midfielder Bae Seung-gyun from Boin High School on a three-year deal, the Dutch club announced on Tuesday.

"For me, this all still feels like a dream," Bae said in a statement released on the club's website. "I felt at home with the club during the internship and will now try very hard to be of value for Feyenoord."

According to Boin High School, Feyenoord scouts eyed Bae during a domestic competition in Korea last May and made a quick move to sign him. He already underwent a two-week tryout by the Dutch club in October last year.

Bae has yet to even make his pro debut, but he still has three U-17 caps, which he made during three friendlies in Croatia in September last year.

Bae has named FC Barcelona midfielder Gavi and Feyenoord midfielder Hwang In-beom as his idols. He also mentioned Korean football legend Park Ji-sung, who rose to fame in the Eredivisie in the early 2000s, as another inspiration.

Bae said that he was deeply moved when Hwang approached him and offered a handshake during his trial. The new signee will join Feyenoord's first-team in training this summer.

Feyenoord have an option to loan him out to a lower-tier club for one season in order to nurture him, similar to how Tottenham Hotspur sent Yang Min-hyeok to Championship club QPR on loan nearly a month after he joined the Premier League team.

Feyenoord are one of the most successful clubs in Dutch football history, winning the Eredivisie 16 times, KNVB Cup 14 times and European Cup — now called the Champions League — one time in 1970.

The club has seen a solid run this season, sitting in third place on the 18-team table as of Wednesday and reaching as far as the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Feyenoord will wrap up the 2024-25 season action that lasts through June, with the new season kicking off in August.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, PIH JU-YOUNG [[email protected]]