Hwang Inbeom joined Feyenoord! Four-year contract + No. 4 rank, "The biggest club of my career, I'll stay as long as I can."

Sep 03, 2024

'The Crown Prince'Hwang In-beom has finally joined the big club. Feyenoord signed Korean midfielder Hwang In-beom to reinforce the center on the club's official website on the 3rd (Korea time). Hwang In-beom, from Serbian champion Tsurvena Zvezda, has signed a contract with the club until 2028, he announced. The transfer fee is not known, but according to Serbian media, Hwang In-beom reportedly recorded a transfer fee of around 10 million euros (KRW 14.5 billion), the highest in the club's history.Photo Capture = Feyenoord

'Prince Hwang In-beom finally joined the big club.

Feyenoord signed Korean midfielder Hwang In-beom to reinforce the center on the club's official website on the 3rd (Korea time). Hwang In-beom, from Serbian champion Tsurvena Zvezda, has signed a contract with the club until 2028, he announced. The transfer fee is not known, but according to Serbian media, Hwang In-beom reportedly recorded a transfer fee of around 10 million euros (KRW 14.5 billion), the highest in the club's history.

Feyenoord introduced Hwang In-beom's journey by circling the globe and drawing a line with his announcement of joining the team. Feyenoord said, `He is a native of the Hana Citizen Youth in Daejeon and became the youngest scorer in the club's history after making his professional debut at the age of 18 in 2015.' He joined Olympiacos, Greece's top club, after playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps (USA) Rubin Kazan (Russia). He was also considered one of the best players in the Greek league at the time. In September 2023, he also grew into a mainstay of the team at Zvezda. The South Korean midfielder, who led Zvezda to the championship with Hwang In-beom's performance, which assisted former Feyenoord player Urosi Spicic's decisive goal, was introduced as the Serbian league's most valuable player (MVP) last season.

Hwang In-beom also expressed his feelings about joining the team. Hwang In-beom "I'm very happy to be here in Feyenoord. Teammate Urosi Spic told me that my decision to go to Feyenoord was right. Feyenoord is the biggest club I've ever played. Feyenoord is also the biggest club in Europe. I want to stay here for a long time. I know the stadium is full at every home game, so I'm looking forward to showing my fans what I look like."

According to Feyenoord, Hwang In-beom will not play because he still has a transfer process. The uniform number will be number four. There will be an A-match in September, and it is expected that the full-fledged Dutch league debut will be after that.

This transfer was as urgent as the process of leaving Olympiacos to Zvezda in August last year. Hwang In-beom couldn't even take a picture due to the transfer made at the deadline of the Serbian transfer market at the time. Again, the transfer was made to the deadline. The Dutch Eredisib transfer market closes on Sept. 2 local time. Hwang In-beom, who left Belgrade, Serbia, and stayed in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he is based in Feyenoord, confirmed his trip to Feyenoord through a club announcement after completing his medical test schedule.

Feyenoord is considered the best option. It is true that Hwang In-beom, who had been steadily knocking on the door of the European big leagues after overseas expansion, also waited for proposals from the so-called four major leagues (England, Italy, Spain, and Germany) in the transfer market this summer. Serbian media reported interest in Real Betis (Spain) and Crystal Palace (England). It has also been linked to multiple Bundesliga clubs.

Hwang left Olympiakos last summer to join Serbia's top prestigious club Zvezda. Hwang In-beom's transfer came to the surface through previous reports by Greek and Serbian media. Greek sports media 'Gazeta Greece' simultaneously reported Hwang In-beom's transfer. The media reported that the transfer fee was 5.5 million euros. He explained that Olympiacos allowed him to move to Zvezda, a team that usually had a good relationship, because he felt burdened by the prolonged dispute with Hwang In-beom. Another Greek outlet, Sportal, also said 'Olimpiacos preferred to earn a transfer fee rather than engage in a legal fight with the player.

Citing the Tanyug news agency, Serbia's leading daily Politica reports 'Hwang In-beom becomes a new member of Zvezda. He signed a four-year contract' and will pay about 5 million euros (about 7.12 billion won) over three years. The club's highest transfer fee ever was reported. Politica said that `Hwang In-beom, who was in conflict with the club over the contract period, has already left Olympiacos for about a month,' adding `Zvezda intervened and succeeded in recruiting Hwang In-beom amid a deadlock between the two sides.' Then 'Hwang In-beom is the best player in Asia. Zvezda has strengthened its power the most in the last decade'

Hwang In-beom, who played for Kazan, Russia, wore an Olympiacos uniform after passing through K-League FC Seoul through FIFA special regulations after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. He played in 32 league matches, five UEFA Europa League qualifiers and three Greek Cup tournaments. He scored three goals and four assists in the league, one goal in the Europa League qualifiers and one goal in the cup. Hwang In-beom boasted a strong position enough to be selected as the Olympiacos 'Player of the Year' by the league secretariat from the 2022-2023 season, his debut season, but he has never played in an official match since the conflict with the club.

Hwang left Olympiacos and wanted a new challenge. Considering soccer officials and Greek media reports, Hwang In-beom directly asked Olympiacos to transfer and disagreed with the Olympiacos club over the contract. Hwang In-beom claimed to have signed a one-year contract that included an option (2 years) when he joined Greece's prestigious Olympiacos in July 2022. Hwang In-beom, who was a member of the Russian club Rubin Kazan at the time of the transfer, recognized that he could not sign a contract for more than a year under special rules set by FIFA due to Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine, and reportedly wrote a contract with Olympiacos accordingly. This is why he pushed for a transfer this summer, when his one-year contract ends.

A soccer official said, "It is understood that a buyout clause has been inserted in the contract. "I think Hwang In-beom believes that if a club that offers a buyout appears, he can transfer without consultation with Olympiacos." The known buyout amount is 3 million euros (about 4.3 billion won). It is understood that there are clubs interested in recruiting specifically in the German Bundesliga.

Olympiakos is said to be a three-year contract without options, and they say they must offer an appropriate transfer fee in order to make a transfer. The club reportedly set the value of Hwang In-beom, who played irreplaceably last season, at more than 10 million euros (about 14.6 billion won). Olympiakos has long used a strategy of 'buy cheap and sell expensive' players. They said they could not send Hwang In-beom at a low transfer fee.

It is said that the two sides have had difficulty finding an agreement as Olympiacos has made a tough stance through Greek media, such as 'I will fight in court'. Hwang In-beom, who entered Korea in the middle of last month for treatment of back injuries, wanted the situation to be resolved smoothly and take on new challenges. At the end of the transfer market, he moved to Munich, Germany, and held the final negotiations. However, it seemed that he couldn't achieve his goal at the end.

Zvezda reached out to Hwang In-beom, who seemed to be in an ambiguous situation. The big league's European transfer market has already been closed, and as it was virtually classified outside of its power at Olympiacos, there were not many options for Hwang In-beom. Zvezda, based in Belgrade, Serbia's capital, is a leading reputation for winning regular league and cup tournaments for three consecutive seasons. Yugoslavia had won 19 times in the top-tier league of the region until the collapse of the civil war in the 1990s. It is the strongest team in name and reality, having won nine times in Serbia's Super Liga. It has been six consecutive losses since the 2017-2018 season. As such, he is a regular customer in the club competition hosted by UEFA. In the 1990–1991 season, he also ascended to the throne at the European Cup, the predecessor of the European Champions League (UCL).

Zvezdahang was a success. Hwang In-beom played in the European Champions League finals for Zvezda for the first time in his career. In the group stage of the European Champions League last season, Hwang In-beom started all six games and played 533 minutes to properly inform European big clubs of his value. His performance against Man City was by far the highlight. Thanks to Hwang In-beom's performance, Zvezda won seven consecutive Serbian Super Liga titles. Hwang In-beom, who lifted a major championship trophy for the first time since entering Europe, also won the Serbia Cup and achieved a double. He also won the league MVP award in his debut season. Hwang In-beom's profile is already widespread in the European big leagues. He also scored six goals in 60 games.

The transfer fee was the key. Zvezda invested a club record of 5 million euros (current exchange rate of 7.4 billion won) last summer to recruit Hwang In-beom. The buyout, which means the amount that the other team can recruit without negotiation, was reported to be 7.5 million euros (about 11.1 billion won). However, it was a clause that was only triggered when transferring to the five major European leagues. It meant that the Dutch club, ranked sixth in the European league as of the 2024-2025 season, had to negotiate separately with Zvezda to recruit Hwang In-beom. Until the 30th of last month, the deadline for the transfer market of the four major leagues, the four major league teams that made the proposal did not appear. An official familiar with Hwang In-beom's situation said, `In fact, many teams have shown interest in recruiting him, but have been reluctant to pay more than 10 billion won in transfer fees" he tipped off. Even before joining Zvezda last summer, Hwang In-beom was on the verge of signing a contract with a team in the four major leagues, but the transfer was canceled due to variables such as transfer fees.

Fortunately for Hwang In-beom, Feyenoord was a team loaded with so-called 'bullets'. This summer, he sent key defender Richarl Hairetrawida and midfielder Mats Bifer to Leipzig (Germany) and Brighton (England), respectively, earning a huge 52 million euros (about 77 billion won) in transfer fees. With the new season already starting, it was decided that investment was necessary to recruit a replacement for Bifer, who is also a Dutch national team. Feyenoord, who selected Hwang In-beom as the No. 1 replacement, won the recruitment match with Ajax by paying 8 million euros (about 11.8 billion won, estimated). According to the Dutch media 'Böttbalpremier' on the 2nd, Las Teunisen of 'Transferwindow' should be considered as the successor of Orkan Kökchü (Benfica) in the long run, although Hwang In-beom should succeed Bifer. Hwang said, "A cool (calm) player, box-to-box type."

According to Hwang In-beom's side, Hwang In-beom was largely attracted to two conditions. One was whether to play in the Champions League, considered the best football tournament on the planet. Feyenoord won a ticket to the Champions League finals by ranking second in the Eredivisie last season led by current Liverpool coach Arne Slot. Hwang In-beom, who learned the taste of the Champions League by experiencing the European Champions League group stage for the first time in Zvezda, will face leading European teams such as Leverkusen (home), Girona (away), Benfica (away), Red Bull Salzburg (home), Manchester City (away), Spartan Prague (home), Bayern Munich (home), and Lille (away) starting this month if Feyenoord's transfer is confirmed. The `Champs best friend Derby' with Kim Min-jae (Munich), who was born in 1996, inevitably attracts public attention.

Although Rubin Kazan (Russia), Olympiacos (Greece), and Zvezda, which Hwang In-beom has been through, serve as a bridge to advance to major European leagues, Feyenoord cannot be followed only in terms of the possibility of going straight to the four major leagues. Even if you look at the aforementioned cases of Heyrtrawida and Bifur, players who have performed well in Feyenoord and completed verification in Eredivisie emerge as the 0th most recruited in the big league. Two years ago, Luis Sinisterra (Liz, now Bournemouth), Marcos Sennessey (Bournemouth), and Tyrrell Malacia (Manchester United) went directly to the English Premier League. Domestic soccer fans jokingly say 'If you do well in the Dutch league, Manchester United coach Erik tenhach will take you' Hwang In-beom plans to first adapt to Feyenoord as quickly as possible and show good performance before pursuing it later.

Hwang In-beom reportedly referred to Eredivisie as a league with deep ties to Korean players. Heo Jung-moo, Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo, Song Jong-guk, Seok Hyun-joon, Roh Jung-yoon, Lee Chun-soo, and Kim Nam-il visited the Dutch stage. In particular, Song Jong-guk had a reputation as a key Feyenoord fullback from 2002 to 2005. If Hwang In-beom joins, he will be the ninth Korean to enter the Eredivisie and the third Korean to join Feyenoord after Song Jong-guk and Lee Chun-soo. Currently, the unoccupied jersey numbers in the Feyenoord first team squad are 4, 7, 13, 66 and so on. Hwang In-beom once wore it four times in his first season in Vancouver in 2018 due to the influence of Ki Sung-yueng (Seoul). The first number in his professional debut season was 13. The most preferred number is the number 6 currently worn by the national team, but currently at Feyenoord, Algerian national team player Ramiz Geruki wears the number 6.

Feyenoord, founded in 1908, is one of the most prestigious 16 champions in the league so far, including a victory in the 2022-2023 season. He won the European Champions League in 1970. Legends like Joan Cruyff, Rut Goulit, Ronald Koeman, and Robin van Persie went through. Coach Dick Advocaat, who led the Korean national team in 2006, led the team from 2019 to 2021. In place of Slot, who left for Liverpool this year, Danish former Spartan Prague coach Brian Friske, who is non-Dutch for the first time in 33 years, took the helm of Feyenoord. He ranked eighth with one win and two draws in three games since the opening of this season. Hwang In-beom, who played in the A-match in September, is likely to make his debut quickly through an away game in the fourth round against Groningen on the 15th. This is because midfielder Jeruki was sent off in a 1-1 draw against Spartan Rotterdam on the 25th of last month and cannot play in the next game.

vanbasten@sportschosun.com

Hwang Inbeom joined Feyenoord! Four-year contract + No. 4 rank, "The biggest club of my career, I'll stay as long as I can."

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