I want to change, I want Kim Ki-dong to play, Ki Sung-yueng's decision to break up...Seoul Legend's move to Pohang is imminent
Jun 25, 2025
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According to soccer sources, Ki Sung-yueng's joining in Pohang took off as of last weekend. Ki Sung-yueng, who confirmed Pohang's intention to recruit through various routes, is reportedly scheduled to visit the Seoul club's office on the 25th to hold a 'last discussion' about the transfer. If Ki Sung-yueng, who has a contract with Seoul by the end of this year, is to transfer during the season, a smooth agreement with the original team is inevitable. It is confirmed that the Seoul and Pohang clubs did not engage in transfer negotiations until late afternoon on the 24th. However, multiple officials predict that this meeting will be a place to share 'Agreement'Negotiation'Last Greetings' as Ki Sung-yueng's will is firm. It is expected that the transfer to Pohang will not be difficult.
Ki Sung-yueng's transfer to another team, which was expected to retire from Seoul, was never foreseen just a month or two ago, but the atmosphere has changed recently. Ki Sung-yueng returned to the team after about two months of treatment and rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury against Daejeon in April. Ki Sung-yueng, who played in all eight games (six starts) including the match against Daejeon since the opening of the season, would have expected to return in June, but even after returning to team training, the number of games that did not make the entry began to increase one by one. It seems that complaints have been accumulated. Ki Sung-yueng's name was not included in the entry for the first Jeonbuk match (1-1 draw) on the 21st.
Seoul coach Kim Ki-dong has been agonizing over Ki Sung-yueng's injury. Since Ki Sung-yueng was injured, Seoul has been in a winless swamp for three consecutive losses and five consecutive games. However, he laid the groundwork for a rebound in the 14th round match against Daegu (1-0 win), and has entered a stable phase, giving up only one loss (3 wins and 3 draws) in the last seven games, including the match against Daegu. He jumped from the ranking, which had fallen to ninth place, to qualifying for the Final A group. As of the 20th round, Seoul (27 points) is ranked seventh, but it is only two points apart from Ulsan (29 points) which is ranked fifth. Coach Kim, who values mobility, used energyizer Jung Seung-won, young box-to-box midfielder Hwang Do-yoon, and professional defensive midfielder Ryu Jae-moon as midfield resources to benefit. Since fullback Park Soo-il was discharged from the military earlier this month and joined the team, fullback Choi Joon has been used as a midfielder. The problem was the scoring ability with only 19 goals in 20 games, and there were few games that were pushed in the midfield battle. Naturally, Ki Sung-yueng, the team's oldest player, began to be excluded from the team's power.
Coach Kim, who wanted to make changes, and Ki, who wanted to continue playing for Seoul, have never clashed in person at the training site, but their feud was an open secret. Everyone was just 'shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. The conflict between the head of the team and the legend had no choice but to affect the team atmosphere. It is rumored that this was the cause of Kim's faster decision. There was not a problem with the chemistry between coach Kim and Ki Sung-yueng from the beginning. Coach Kim, who had a successful career in Pohang, openly delivered the message to Ki Sung-yueng before signing the contract, saying, `FC Seoul is Ki Sung-yueng, and Ki Sung-yueng is FC Seoul.' Focusing on passmaster Ki Sung-yueng, he hoped to add a build-up to 'starting ball'. There were not a few voices around head coach Kim pointing out the problem of Ki Sung-yueng's mobility decline, but he steadily put it in as a starter or replacement unless he was injured. In a pre-interview with Pohang in October last year, he also revealed that he often talks to Ki Sung-yueng on the phone. Seoul came in fourth after a long slump tunnel and secured its first Asian Champions League ticket in six years. It is the season when Ki Sung-yueng has achieved his best performance since returning to Seoul.
According to an official familiar with the situation in Seoul, Kim and Ki Sung-yueng held a meeting in mid-June. At this meeting, the two confirmed their differences over future utilization plans. After the interview, Ki Sung-yueng, who was more determined to transfer than retirement, reportedly contacted multiple K-League clubs and expressed his intention. Among them, Pohang was the most interested club. Pohang had a need to reinforce its midfield resources due to the accompanying injury of Kim Jong-woo and Han Chan-hee. Coincidentally, Seoul will play Pohang in the 21st round at home on the 29th. However, it is unclear whether Ki Sung-yueng will enjoy Sangam this weekend in an awkward Pohang uniform. There is also a possibility that 'Official' will be delayed beyond next week due to the transfer process. Regardless of whether he will play or not, the fact that Ki Sung-yueng will wear another uniform will certainly come as a big shock to Seoul fans.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
