Hwang Hee-chan ends season with personal best 12 goals, 3 assists

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan ended the 2023-24 Premier League campaign with 12 goals and three assists, marking his best season since joining Wolves in 2021.

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan eyes the ball during a Premier League match against Liverpool at Anfield in Liverpool, England on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan ended the 2023-24 Premier League campaign with 12 goals and three assists, marking his best season since joining Wolves in 2021.

Hwang’s third season at Wolves ended on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to Liverpool on the road at Anfield. While the loss meant Wolves finished the season in 14th place — one position worse than last season — Hwang's personal numbers show a significant improvement.

Hwang recorded 13 goals and three assists across all competitions in the 2023-24 campaign, with one goal coming from the Carabao Cup match against Ipswich Town in September last year. The majority of that work came in the first half of the season.

After scoring his first goal of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion on Aug. 19 last year, Hwang had racked up nine more by the end of December, putting him in seventh place on the league’s top scorer table.

During that run, he also scored a goal against league champions Manchester City in a fixture on Sept. 30, which Wolves won 2-1.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan, left, celebrates scoring a goal against Manchester City at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England on Sept. 30. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The first half of the league — from August to December — alone marked a stark contrast to last season, during which he recorded just one assist and zero goals. His first league goal last season came in a match against Newcastle United in March, 2023.

Things slowed down dramatically in the second half of the campaign this year, as Hwang missed three months due to a combination of the Asian Cup and injury.

He still picked up his form after returning in mid-April, however, scoring two goals in a row against Luton Town on April 27 and Man City again on May 4 — although Wolves lost 5-1.

That goal against City was his last of the season, allowing him to finish the campaign as the joint 15th top scorer in the league with 12 goals in 29 matches, tying with teammate Matheus Cunha, who played three more league games.

This season is the first time Hwang has recorded double-digit league goals for Wolves, having scored five in the 2021-22 season — his first at the club — and three last season.

The last time Hwang recorded double-digit goals was in the 2019-20 Austrian Bundesliga season for Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, when he picked up 11 goals and 12 assists.

Hwang will have a relatively easy schedule this summer compared to fellow Premier League players from Europe and South America, as they have the Euros and Copa America, while the Wolves forward will only need to play a few World Cup qualifiers with Korea.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]