Ulsan Hyundai, which is running at the top of the K-League 1 in professional football, suffered its first consecutive defeat under coach Hong Myung-bo (pictured), and the negative news of the transfer of main midfielder Park Yong-woo (30) also overlapped.
Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on the social network service (SNS) on the 17th, “Park Yong-woo passed the medical test and agreed on all the details necessary for the contract.” ”he said.
Defensive midfielder Park Yong-woo is the housekeeper who스포츠토토 supported Ulsan’s winning streak this year. Originally highly regarded for his solid ball guarding ability, he even made his A-match debut with his first Taegeuk mark last June, surviving even sharp forward passes.
Park Yong-woo was recently punished for racial discrimination on social media, but he is an indispensable resource in Ulsan. He played 19 games this year, and he is enjoying his prime enough to record 1 goal and 2 assists in attack.
Coincidentally, the value of Park Yong-woo was reconfirmed in conjunction with the vacuum that occurred while preparing for his transfer. After the match against Pohang Steelers on the 8th, he started preparing for the transfer in earnest. On the 12th, he missed, against Incheon United (1-2 loss) and on the 15th against Suwon Samsung (1-3 loss), Ulsan lost one after another.
It is the first time that Ulsan has fallen into a losing streak, not only this year, but since the appointment of coach Hong Myung-bo, who took the helm from the 2021 season. Although the losing streak is heartbreaking, it was also regrettable that they played helpless matches against teams in the lower ranks below in terms of objective power.
Ulsan’s priority is to fill Park Yong-woo’s vacancy until the 20th, when the summer transfer market ends. An official from Ulsan said, “We are looking for alternatives both inside and outside. We will make a decision before the transfer window closes.” It means that the transfer fee generated by Park Yong-woo’s transfer will bring in a player or promote another existing player. Ulsan is known to have secured about 3 billion won through the transfer of Park Yong-woo.
If Ulsan cannot find an alternative in the tight transfer market, Swedish midfielders Boyanich and Kim Min-hyeok are candidates. In terms of performance this year, Kim Min-hyeok played 18 games and recorded 3 assists, which is slightly better than Boyanic (6 games, 1 assist).
After playing a home game against Jeju United on the 21st, Ulsan plans to catch up with the team that was disheveled during a two-week break. Coach Hong said, “It seems that the players are tired because there have been a lot of external issues recently rather than performance. It is true that the overall atmosphere is not the same as before.”