Take it out of Ko Youngjun's entry! Shock revelation, scapegoat in Partizan power fight...Power loss due to external pressure

Jan 07, 2025

Photo =Caption on the official website of the Partizan club

Photo =Partizan SNS Capture

Shock revelation came out. There was external pressure over whether Ko Young-joon (Partizan) would play or not.

Serbian media Sports Extra said on the 5th (Korea time) 'Ko Young-joon and João Grimaldo have been excluded from the team for a while. Marco Jovanovic, who led the team on an interim basis, reported that it was all the will of former director Ivica Iliev.

Ko Young-joon, born in 2001, wore Partizan's uniform through the winter transfer market in January last year. Partizan worked hard to recruit Ko Young-joon. He expressed keen interest for more than seven months. Coach Igor Dulyai, who was leading the team at the time, was reportedly fascinated by Ko Young-joon's play. Coach Igor is known to highly value Ko's attack-oriented and straightforward play.

Ko Young-joon adapted quickly. He scored his debut goal in his debut against FKIMT. Ko Young-joon played 790 minutes in 10 games in Serbia's Super Liga in the 2023-2024 season, playing as the core of the team. Ko Young-joon also started the 2024-2025 season as a key factor. He started in the second qualifying round of the European Champions League (UCL).

The problem was the team situation. Partizan is considered a powerhouse of Serbian tradition. But this season has been reeling greatly. Since the replacement of Igor in April, the situation has been bad due to poor performance and successive managerial changes. Albert Nad, Aleksandr Stanoyevich and Sabo Milosevic have left the team. Currently, coach Srjan Blagojevic is leading the team.

Marco, who is currently away from the team, told a shocking fact. He added "Ko Young-joon joined the team that coach Igor wanted. Since then, he has received high praise from Aleksandr. I think highly of him as a player. It's because it has speed and intensity of play that you can't see in our team. He goes up to high and attacks, and he is active in defense. He also has a strong sense of responsibility. You can play in various positions. The biggest problem is language, and yet he behaved brilliantly. However, before the new management joined, the sports director thought Ko Young-joon was not his chosen supporter. I don't want to see it in the team anymore." He added that `Ko can only train and not play in games.' In the end, Ko Young-joon only conducted physical training separately. He has not played since October last year. Lost continuity, out of rhythm. I wanted to give him a chance, but I couldn't because I had very little team training" he revealed.

Ko Young-joon did not play properly due to external pressure in Partizan. Ironically, interest in Ko Young-joon is increasing. It is known that multiple teams in Europe and the K League are closely reviewing Ko's situation.

Photo = AFP Yonhap News

On the other hand, it is not the first time that 'external pressure' on the input of Korean players. Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) was known to have been ostracized when he was a member of Valencia in the past. In 2020, Ferran Torres "Me and Lee Kang-in were the main culprits of Marcellino Garcia Toral's dismissal. The owner wanted to use Valencia Youth, but he was dismissed because the manager did not follow suit. Lee Kang-in had a very hard and lonely time. We need the affection of the club." Jose Bordalas, who led Valencia in the 2021-2022 season, said "The club said it would sell Lee Kang-in as soon as I arrived. Lee Kang-in said he was a bad player. I was surprised. I trained with Lee Kang-in for two days, but he said he was the best. I couldn't do anything," he said.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.