Celtic, a prestigious club in Scotland, is dreaming of an ‘Asian Galactico’.
An official from Suwon said on the 25th through Xports News and a phone call, “Oh Hyeon-gyu (21) has completed the Celtic medical test and the club’s agreement, and is currently waiting for an announcement.”
Oh Hyun-gyu, who scored 13 goals and 3 assists in 36 matches last season, is courted by Celtic, a prestigious Scottish club, and is about to make his European debut.
According to foreign and domestic soccer officials, the transfer fee is around 4 billion won.
Celtic already has a large number of Asian players, but it has attracted even more attention by embracing Korean striker Oh Hyun-gyu. 안전놀이터 Celtic currently has as many as six players from Japan, a neighboring country and rival of Korea.
Including Daizen Maeda, a key member of the Japanese national soccer team, and top scorers in the team, Kyogo Furuhashi, Yosuke Ideguchi, Leo Hatate, Yuki Kobayashi, and Tomoki Iwata, Celtic employs an unusually large number of Japanese players despite being a European club.
Here, Australia’s veteran midfielder Aaron Mui is being used as a key midfielder. Including freshman Oh Hyun-kyu, the number of Asian players will increase to eight.
One of the reasons Celtic has so many Asian players, especially Japanese players, is Australian manager Enze Postecoglu, who took over as Celtic manager in June 2021.
Postecoglu coached the Australian national team from 2013 to 2017, so he is familiar with talented players from all over Asia.
After stepping down from the Australian national team, he led the Japanese J-League Yokohama F Marinos and watched Japanese players up close.
Coach Postecoglu, who put Yokohama at the top of the league in 15 years in the 2019 season, has led the team by bringing in Asian players he has been eyeing since taking over as Celtic manager in 2021.