Europe could come calling for Paik Seung-ho this January

Paik Seung-ho, a product of the Barcelona academy and current star of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, could head west this winter as the well-guarded gates to European football grind open this week for the January transfer window.

Korea's Paik Seung-ho kicks the ball during a game against Kyrgyzstan in the Round of 16 of the men's football tournament at Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China on Sept. 27, 2023. [YONHAP]

Paik Seung-ho, a product of the Barcelona academy and current star of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, could head west this winter as the well-guarded gates to European football grind open this week for the January transfer window.

Paik, 26, is perhaps the most likely K League name to appear in the transfer books, with a return to Europe on the cards after three seasons playing in Korea’s K League 1.

Generally playing as a center midfielder, Paik joined Jeonbuk ahead of the 2021 K League season after spending his formative years bouncing around Europe.

Coming up through the Barcelona youth system — he originally joined the U-13 team in 2010 — Paik struggled to see much game time with the Spanish club, falling foul of FIFA’s Article 19 “Protection of Minors” policy and ending up benched for years.

He eventually made two appearances for Barcelona’s B team before being traded to Girona in 2017, making 54 appearances for reserve team Peralada and just six for Girona, before joining 2. Bundesliga side Darmstadt 98 in 2019.

Paik saw some success in his early days with Darmstadt, racking up 41 appearances and two goals over two seasons, but his pitch time decreased over time and he was eventually released in the middle of his second season with the club.

Things did not immediately improve when he returned to Korea. Paik joined Jeonbuk in the spring of 2021, but was then dropped from the Korean U-23 squad two months later — as was fellow Barcelona-trainee-turned-European-dropout Lee Seung-woo.

But Paik turned things around when he arrived in the K League, carving out a spot in the center of the Jeonbuk midfield and winning the title with in 2021 and the FA Cup in 2022. He has made 82 appearances for the club over the past three seasons, scoring nine goals and picking up six assists.

Paik also worked his way back into the Korean national football team, racking up 15 appearances in total, 12 of those in the last two years. He has scored three goals, two in friendlies against Iceland and Moldova in January 2022, and a career-highlight screamer against Brazil in the Round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

On the U-23 side, Paik was called up to the Hangzhou Asian Games squad as a wildcard pick last year and went on to captain the team at the Asiad. He led Korea to the top of the podium, earning a crucial mandatory military service exemption for every player in the squad.

With the military exemption in hand, Paik is now free to return to Europe without the looming prospect of a two-year stint in the military hanging over him. The same exemption has proved crucial in the careers of other Europe-based footballers like Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and, more recently, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in.

It’s still early days in the January transfer window — which opened for England and Wales’ Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A opened on Monday, alongside a number of smaller European leagues, and will close on Feb. 1 — but there are already whispers of interest from club’s in the Bundesliga.

Paik’s former home Darmstadt — now promoted to the top-tier Bundesliga — have been linked to the midfielder, as has Mainz 05, the current home of Korea teammate Lee Jae-sung.

There could also be options elsewhere, with teams in Scotland and northern Europe having played particularly close attention to Korean players in the last few years. Asian Games teammate Jung Ho-yeon has already been linked to Celtic, where a move would make him the fourth Korean player on the roster.

If Paik is signed in January, he will be available to move immediately. Korean national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has shown little interest in the 26-year-old, choosing not to play him in any game since taking the helm last year and failing to call him up for the upcoming Asian Cup.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]