FC Seoul sends yet another player to European league

‘Play for FC Seoul if you want to advance to a European league!’

FC Seoul is serving as a stepping stone for Korean soccer players to advance to European leagues. Jung Jo-gook, who led the team to the K-League title this season, will soon move to France.

Jung’s management agency Jissen said Monday, “Jung’s contract with FC Seoul will expire this year, and he’s agreed to join AJ Auxerre of the French league,” adding, “He will sign a deal to join the French team in early January.”

Jung will reportedly sign a three-year contract for 400,000 euros (about 500,000 U.S. dollars) per year.

He is one of a number of FC Seoul players who have advanced to Europe. Assistant Korean national coach Seo Jung-won was the first from the team to move to Europe in 1997 when he joined Strasbourg of France.

Others include Lee Young-pyo (Al Hilal), who moved to PSV Einthoven of the Netherlands in 2003, and Park Chu-young, who joined AS Monaco of France in 2008. Lee Chung-yong, who joined the Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League, and Ki Sung-yueng, who is playing for Celtic of Scotland, followed suit last year.

A FC Seoul source said, “Our club’s policy is to let go any player who receives a transfer request with good conditions from an overseas team,” adding, “We prefer Europe because players have high growth potential there rather than in the Middle East or Japan.”

On why FC Seoul seems to produce players who move to Europe, he said, “Since we’ve played many friendly matches with European teams, we’ve increased our visibility,” adding, “Our former players who moved to European leagues have shown good performances, so the widespread perception among European scouts seems to be that they can trust FC Seoul players and confidently bring them in.”

creating@donga.com