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| Photo =Mainz SNS Capture |
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| The men's national soccer team played a round of 16 match against China at the Hangzhou Asian Games at Huanglong Sports Center in Hangzhou, China, on the afternoon of the 1st. Hong Hyun-seok scored the first goal in the first half. Hong Hyun-seok is happy with his colleagues. Hangzhou (China) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2023.10.01/ |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Hong Hyun-seok succeeded in entering the big league. I'm going to work with Lee Jae-sung in Mainz.
Germany's kicker said on the 29th (Korea time) 'Mainz's next recruit will be Hong Hyun-suk of South KoreaHe reported on Hong Hyun-seok's transfer to Mainz.
The kicker said the transfer of Hong Hyun-suk is scheduled to be announced on Thursday, adding that the next transfer is also being finalized after Moritz Yentz signed a one-year loan deal with Mainz. South Korea's national team Hong Hyun-suk will move from Hent to Mainz. Hong also missed Wednesday's Europa Conference League playoff round. Mainz has already completed all the procedures. Hong Hyun-seok's transfer fee is 4 million euros (about 5.9 billion won)', he said, announcing the news of Hong Hyun-seok going to Mainz.
Mainz was originally Sano Gaishu, acquired from Kashima Antlers, the highest transfer fee investor this summer. Sano joined Mainz with a transfer fee of 2.5 million euros (about 3.7 billion won). However, Hong Hyun-seok is imminent to join Mainz with a transfer fee of at least 4 million euros, breaking the club's highest transfer fee this summer.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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In addition to kicker, other German media also reported on Hong Hyun-seok's transfer to Mainz. The German version of Sky Sports in Germany 'Mainz is about to recruit Hong Hyun-suk. Hong Hyun-suk can play as a central and offensive midfielder. Having scored seven goals and eight assists last season, he will move from Hent. Hong Hyun-suk's transfer fee, which was scheduled to expire in 2025, will amount to 6 million euros (about 8.9 billion won)'He predicted a higher transfer fee than a kicker. Hong Hyun-seok's transfer fee is expected to be between at least 4 million euros and 6 million euros, including bonuses.
Belgium's leading reporter Shasha Tabolieri also said on her personal SNS that `Hong Hyun-seok's transfer to the Bundesliga is imminent. Hent told Hong Hyun-suk, who is already in Germany, to complete the Mainz transferHe explained that Hong Hyun-seok is already in Germany and is completing the process.
Mainz also released a poster containing Hong Hyun-suk's silhouette with Moritz, who has already confirmed his lease on the club's SNS, revealing that the two players will join. In fact, it was an official, not an official.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Initially, Hong Hyun-seok was expected to transfer to the big league, but he surprised fans with the sudden news of the transfer to Turkiye. At the beginning of the transfer market, it was the Bundesliga that showed interest in Hong Hyun-seok first. Werder Bremen showed interest. However, Bremen was reluctant to pay the transfer fee for Hong Hyun-seok, which Hent demanded. Since then, interest in Hong Hyun-seok has subsided again.
Suddenly, the transfer to Turkiye accelerated. Fans raised suspicions that there was pressure from the club or agent, not Hong Hyun-seok's intention, as it was news that a player who wanted to transfer to the big league was about to transfer to Turkiye. Hong Hyun-suk drew a clear line on the controversy. On his personal SNS, he posted his own official, saying, `I asked him to go because I wanted to go.' Even Hong Hyun-seok's direct mention of the transfer appeared, and it seemed as if his trip to Turkey would be completed this summer.
However, Hong Hyun-seok's trip to Turkey hit a rock at the last minute. During the negotiations with Trabzonspor, he suffered from buyouts and tax issues. The biggest problem was the buyout. Hong Hyun-seok, who did not think the Turkiye stage was the end, wanted a small buyout to facilitate future transfers. While Trabzonspor offered a buyout amount of 12 million euros (about 17.8 billion won), Hong Hyun-seok reportedly offered 6 million euros, similar to the transfer fee. In the end, the negotiations, which were shaken by the buyout issue, failed to conclude and drifted away.
Mainz took advantage of the gap. The kicker said, `Hong Hyun-seok is a player who can fill the vacancy of Tom Kraus, who was loaned to Luton Town in England's second division.' Mainz wanted a player to fill Kraus' loan transfer. Kraus is a player who has consistently played for Mainz in the 2023-2024 season. Although it is not a clear starting resource, he played in 31 official games and played about 1,432 minutes. Since Hong Hyun-seok invested a considerable amount of transfer fee, he is likely to play more time.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Hong Hyun-seok, born in 1999, is a former Ulsan HD youth team and has entered the European stage since 2018. Starting with Unterhahing, the German third division, he started to make his name known on the European stage in earnest by wearing the Hent uniform in 2022 after passing through Junior and LASK Linz. Hong Hyun-seok, who started playing for Belgium's prestigious Hent, has become the center of the team with six goals and six assists in 37 official games in the 2022-2023 season. In the 2023-2024 season, he maintained a stable performance as the team's mainstay by scoring five goals and six assists in 30 league games, even though he was absent from the Asian Games and the Asian Cup. Just before the transfer, he already played in three league games and Europa Conference League qualifiers this season.
The Korean national team has also been consistently dispatched. He has been on the national team since June last year and played 12 games. The national team also received good reviews for its midfield resources to succeed Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung.
Hong Hyun-seok had not hidden his dream of moving to the big leagues in the past. Hong Hyun-seok, who has benefited from military service through the Asian Games, said in an interview in October last year that `The goal has been to become one of the top five European leagues. After winning the gold medal, a good opportunity came, but I don't think I'm going to go to a good league just because I'm exempted from the military, so I think the future will be more important"I played in the German third division when I was young, so I'm familiar with the German stage and I want to try again."
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Mainz, where Hong Hyun-seok is scheduled to join, is already a team where key midfielder Lee Jae-sung of the Korean national team is active. Lee Jae-sung is one of the main players of the team, which moved to Mainz in 2021 and has already played 99 games. Lee Jae-sung played with six goals and four assists in 31 games last season. Mainz is a familiar club to Korean fans, with several Korean players besides Lee Jae-sung. Cha Du-ri, Park Joo-ho, Koo Ja-cheol and Ji Dong-won have played active roles. If Hong Hyun-seok joins, he will become the sixth Korean player for Mainz and play as the fourth active Bundesliga player along with Lee Jae-sung, Kim Min-jae and Jung Woo-young.
The failure to go to Turkey was rather a blessing in disguise for Hong Hyun-seok. Hong Hyun-seok's performance on the big league stage of his dream is also expected to receive great attention.
digh1229@sportschosun.com
