19-year-old FC Seoul defender Ham Sun-woo linked to Burnley

FC Seoul’s 19-year-old center-back Ham Sun-woo is reportedly set to begin a trial with Championship side Burnley on Monday.

FC Seoul defender Ham Sun-woo [SCREEN CAPTURE]

FC Seoul’s 19-year-old center-back Ham Sun-woo is reportedly set to begin a trial with Championship side Burnley on Monday.

X user Joel Kim, who runs the football YouTube channel “All Things KNT" and often posts transfer rumors and exclusives about Korean footballers, posted Sunday that Han is in Britain in order to go through a trial with a view to potentially move to the club.

The report comes less than a year after Ham joined FC Seoul, where he has yet to make a debut.

Since joining the K League 1 club from Shinpyeong High School football team in January this year, he has not made an appearance in any competition.

Standing at 1.91 meters (6.2 foot), Ham counters pressure effectively and capitalizes his passing skills and vision.

Ham made three caps at the U-19 level, however, playing in friendlies in June this year.

It remains unclear whether Burnley really reached out to the relatively unknown player, as FC Seoul could not be reached for comment as of press time. If a move to Britain is on the cards, its likely to be to the club's U-21 squad.

Burnley sit in fourth place on the 24-team Championship table as of Monday. The club played in the Premier League until last season when they finished in second to last place and faced relegation.

If Ham joins Burnley, he would be the first Korean to play for the club and bring the number of Korean players in England’s second division this season to three. Swansea City midfielder Eom Ji-sung and Stoke City midfielder Bae Jun-ho play in the league.

Once Burnely signs Ham, the club has an option to put him in their B team or loan him out to a low tier club until the player reaches the desired level.

When Premier League club Brentford signed then-18-year-old defender Kim Ji-soo in June 2023, the club had him spend some time in their B team and then promoted him to the senior squad this summer.

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