Hong Hyun-seok looks set to join Bundesliga as Mainz tease move

KAA Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok looks set to join Bundesliga side Mainz 05, with the German club expected to announce the new signing on Thursday.

An image posted on official Mainz 05 social media pages on Wednesday shows a silhoutte that bears a resemblance to Hong Hyun-seok alongside the words ″Coming soon.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

KAA Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok looks set to join Bundesliga side Mainz 05, with the German club expected to announce the new signing on Thursday.

German sports magazine Kicker reported Wednesday that a deal between Gent and Mainz has already been reached — although the story mistakenly carried a picture of Lee Kang-in — with Hong apparently set to cost the German club our million euros ($4.5 million).

Mainz’s also teased an upcoming transfer on their social media on Wednesday, posting an image showing new signee Moritz Jenz alongside the silhouette of another player and the words “Coming soon.”

The silhouette bares a significant resemblance to Hong.

The possible move comes 10 days after Hong announced on his personal Instagram page that he was moving to Turkish team Trabzonspor.

Hong said that he was moving to Turkish because he wanted to, adding that it was against the advice of his agent. The statement appeared to be in response to a negative reaction to rumors of the move from Korean fans who felt that Hong had the potential to go further in a major European league.

But despite Hong’s Instagram post, he never actually left Gent, although he did not appear for the club last week. Whether the Mainz deal was on the cards at the time is unclear.

Hong joined K League 1 side Ulsan Hyundai, now Ulsan HD, in 2018, but immediately spent a loan spell at SpVgg Unterhaching in the 3. Liga — the third division in German football.

After another loan spell from 2019 to 2020 at Austrian team Juniors OO, he joined fellow Austrian team LASK in August 2020 but spent a second loan spell at Juniors for the 2020-21 season.

Gent midfielder Hong Hyun-seok, left, fights for the ball with Silkeborg's Andreas Pyndt during a UEFA Europa League Qualifying Round match at the Ghelamco Arena stadium in Ghent on Aug. 15. [AFP/YONHAP]

The 2021-22 season saw him establishing himself as a regular pick, playing 40 fixtures across all competitions.

He has further picked up his form since joining Gent in 2022, having played as a key midfielder and racking up 18 goals and 20 assists across 104 matches so far. Hong’s performance at Gent started with a bang — he scored with a bicycle kick in his very first game.

Hong has become an increasingly common pick for the Korean national team as well, getting 12 caps since first being called up by Jurgen Klinsmann in June last year. He was also in the gold-medal winning Korean squad at the Asian Games last year, earning an exemption from Korea’s mandatory military service.

Hong will be in good company if he does move to Mainz. Veteran midfielder Lee Jae-sung has played for the club since the 2021-22 season and is a core part of the club’s starting lineup.

Lee will likely make his 100th appearance for Mainz this weekend, having scored 17 goals and made 12 assists across all competitions in his 99 games so far.

Hong would be the fourth Korean footballer currently active in the Bundesliga. Fellow midfielder Jeong Woo-yeong, another key member of the Taeguk Warriors young contingent, is currently playing for Union Berlin on loan from VfB Stuttgart, while veteran defender Kim Min-jae plays for Bayern Munich.

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