Ghent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok rumored Werder Bremen target

The Bundesliga club have reportedly been looking at Hong, whose contract at the Belgian Pro League side is set to expire next June, as they seek to fortify their midfield, according to DeichStube Sunday.

Ghent's Hong Hyun-seok, center, fights for the ball during the first leg of the Europa Conference League against Istanbul Basaksehir at KAA Gent stadium in Ghent, Belgium on March 9, 2023. [AP/YONHAP]

SV Werder Bremen are rumored to be interested in K.A.A. Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok, according to German update site DeichStube, setting up a move that could place a fourth Korean player in Germany’s top flight for the 2024-25 season.

The Bundesliga club have reportedly been looking at Hong, whose contract at the Belgian Pro League side is set to expire next June, as they seek to fortify their midfield, the Werder Bremen update site wrote in a post Sunday.

Ghent are reportedly open to transfer talks, with Hong’s transfer fee reaching a record-high 9 million euros ($9.7 million) last month, according to football statistics site Transfermarkt.

Hong, 25, joined Ghent in August 2022 from Austrian side LASK after two years in the Austrian Bundesliga — a move he described at the time as a chance to further develop his game.

He scored with a bicycle kick on his Ghent debut a couple of days after signing with the club and has been a regular starter for his entire tenure in Belgium, recording 16 goals and 17 assists across all competitions over two seasons.

Hong, who plays primarily as an attacking midfielder, has also become a familiar face on the European club-heavy Korean national team since earning his first senior cap in June 2023 under Jurgen Klinsmann.

He came on as a sub through the group stage and two knockout rounds at the AFC Asian Cup in February, missing only the 2-0 loss to Jordan in the semifinals.

Korea's Hong Hyun-seok, left, and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Kanno battle for the ball during the AFC Asian Cup round of 16 at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Jan. 30. [AP/YONHAP]

Hong has yet to score or record an assist for the senior team. He last played for Korea in their 1-0 win over China in a second-round qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, again coming on as a sub.

But he scored three goals for the U-23 team at the delayed 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last fall where Korea beat Japan 2-1 in the final to win gold, earning the entire squad military exemption.

The 2024-25 season will be Hong’s first campaign with the exemption under his belt, handing him the freedom to pursue an overseas career uninterrupted.

Werder Bremen ended the 2023-24 Bundesliga season in ninth place on the 18-team table, one place out of a spot in the qualifiers for the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League.

They were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after the 2020-21 season for the first time in four decades and spent one season in the second division before earning promotion the following year under manager Ole Werner.

Werner previously managed fellow Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel from 2019 to 2021 where he coached Korea and FC Mainz midfielder Lee Jae-sung, who played for Holstein from 2018 to 2021.

Mainz’s Lee, Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae and VfB Stuttgart’s Jeong Woo-yeong — all regular national team picks — are the only Korean players currently active in the Bundesliga.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]