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| Sportschosun DB |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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'32-year-old fullback' who pursued 'Dream' not 'money' came a lie-like gift of 'Entering Europe'.
A late European wave was born. Lee Myung-jae (32) will take on a great challenge. A person familiar with the transfer market said through Sports Chosun, `Lee Myung-jae will wear the uniform of Birmingham City in the English League 1 (third division). Lee Myung-jae has now arrived in the UK and is finalizing the contract details. There will be an announcement soon." Lee Myung-jae will make his first overseas challenge in England.
Lee Myung-jae's contract with Ulsan HD expired after last season. Lee Myung-jae contributed to the construction of the dynasty as the core of Ulsan's defense. He was selected as the defender's category 'Best 11' at the K League Awards in the 2024 season, leading his team to its third consecutive win. He also joined the A team. Lee Myung-jae, who won the national flag for the first time in the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup in March last year, has since become the main player with a stable play. He played in all the first to sixth rounds of the third Asian qualifying round for the North-China World Cup.
We negotiated re-signing with Ulsan, but there were differences in terms of conditions. There were love calls from domestic teams, but Lee Myung-jae, who played only in Ulsan since his debut in Ulsan in 2014, was not interested in moving to another K-League club, except for his loan at Niigata in the Japanese J-League. Lee Myung-jae, the last age to challenge, turned his eyes to overseas expansion. When "Korea National University Fullback" came to the market, love calls continued from China, the Middle East, and Japan.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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In the beginning, China was the most active. Among them, Shenzhen offered a good proposal. It was a surprising offer from Lee Myung-jae's point of view, who had no choice but to think about money. Nevertheless, Lee Myung-jae had a dream. After visiting the A national team, I became more desperate to play in the World Cup. He made development as a player a top priority for his transfer. I waited for the proposal, mindful of going to Japan rather than China. But there was no significant call.
While going to China was likely, a new path was opened. The tide has changed, with Lee Myung-jae's agent suggesting, `If you're going to take the challenge anyway, let's look for a trip to Europe instead.' But no European team was interested in '32 fullback'. Lee Myung-jae decided to have as much time as possible. I looked into Turkiye, which has a long winter transfer market, as well as Russia.
In the meantime, Birmingham and Kite came into contact. Just in time, Lee Myung-jae's agent, Ryu Hee-cheon, CEO of Square Sports, was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and negotiations proceeded quickly as he connected with Birmingham officials. Just in time, Birmingham was in desperate need of a new player after the main left fullback, Lee Buchanan, collapsed due to injury. Coach Chris Davis even looked for Lee Myung-jae's national team matches, Molon, and his team's matches. Coach Davis, who checked his skills, actively asked the club to recruit him, and video interviews continued quickly. Negotiations were finally completed on January 31, and Lee Myung-jae boarded a flight to London on the 1st. It was only for three or four days.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| Sportschosun DB |
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Birmingham, who play in Ligue 1, are leading the way with overwhelming power. The idea is to quickly confirm the promotion by recruiting Lee Myung-jae. There is no doubt in terms of skill. Lee Myung-jae did not neglect to make his body even though his future was uncertain. Adaptation is expected to be the key. Fortunately, as Baek Seung-ho is playing in Birmingham, he will be able to melt down quickly.
Lee Myung-jae opted for Birmingham and was guaranteed a lower salary and contract period than previous offers. But I didn't care. I support Lee Myung-jae's challenge of putting everything on the line toward his dream of entering Europe.
Park Chan-joon, reporter for Kim Autumn
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
