Versatile fullback Seol Young-woo joins Red Star Belgrade

Seol Young-woo has finalized a move to Serbian team Red Star Belgrade, Ulsan HD announced Monday.

Seol Young-woo celebrates scoring during the round of 16 match of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League between Ulsan HD and Ventforet Kofu at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Feb. 15. [YONHAP]

Seol Young-woo has finalized a move to Serbian team Red Star Belgrade, Ulsan HD announced Monday.

“After much deliberation, the club has made the decision to allow Seol Young-woo to make the next step in his career and to support the player's growth and development by agreeing to the transfer,” Ulsan said in a press release Monday.

Ulsan said that it has mutually agreed with Red Star not to disclose details of the deal.

Seol’s move to Red Star comes after being linked to the Serbian team since early this year. The transfer did not go ahead at the start of the 2024 K League 1 season in March, reportedly because manager Hong Myung-bo did not want to lose the fullback before the new campaign.

Serbian media reported two weeks ago that the transfer had been completed, but Korean media refuted the claim a day later.

The move is the first transfer of Seol’s career.

Seol, 25, started his pro career at Ulsan in 2020 and has made 156 appearances for the K League side, during which he won the AFC Champions League in 2020 and K League 1 twice in 2022 and 2023 — the team’s first league title defense.

Seol has proven a versatile player, slotting in as a fullback or on either wing, and has accurate crosses, dribbling and pace in his arsenal. The fullback has also been a regular defender pick in the senior national team since last year with 16 caps under his belt.

Seol will be free to pursue a career in Europe uninterrupted as he has already earned a military service exemption by winning a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

He will overlap with a couple of other Korean players in Serbia, including Red Star midfielder Hwang In-beom, the 2023-24 Serbian Superliga Player of the Year — though he has picked up interest from other clubs.

The absence of Seol leaves Ulsan to find a replacement in the middle of the 2024 campaign. A K League season runs from March to December of the same calendar year.

Ulsan still have its youth team graduates Jang Si-young and Choi Kang-min, who could fill in the role, in addition to versatile player Yun Il-lok, who has played as a regular fullback pick this season.

Ulsan will hold a farewell ceremony for Seol at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Wednesday, before he travels to Serbia to undergo a medical.

Red Star, meanwhile, will kick off the 2024-25 Superliga campaign on July 20 on the back of league and Serbian Cup titles last season.

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