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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Kim Joo-sung (25) of FC Seoul has achieved his dream of overseas expansion.
Seoul posted 'Official' on the 31st that it agreed to transfer to Japan's J-League's prestigious Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Kim Ju-seong. The club praised Kim Joo-sung, a former Sunggol Youth player, for his active and dedication as the team's main defender in the meantime and will proceed with the transfer. In fact, Kim Joo-sung has been offered a transfer by several overseas clubs, but as a player representing Seoul Youth, he chose to stay on the team considering the team's situation as the top priority. This transfer to Hiroshima is the result of reflecting the player's will and decision."
Kim Joo-sung is a native of Osan Middle School and Osan High School, a youth in Seoul, and was called up to the professional team in 2019 and has played in the Seoul uniform until now. So far, he has played 129 K-League 1 games, taking responsibility for Seoul's back door. Based on his performance in Seoul, he was also selected for the national team and played as a key defender in the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), following the lineage of the left-footed center back of the national team.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Football Association |
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Kim has received attention from various clubs in Europe and the Middle East, including the English Championship, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates this summer. The 'national left-footed centerback in his mid-20s with a high price tag' was popular in the market. Some clubs, such as Germany's Nuremberg, reached out, but teams offering satisfactory transfer fees did not appear easily. Kim Joo-sung also decided to postpone his overseas expansion to this winter if there is no satisfactory offer. I just wanted to leave smoothly with the club and with the support of the fans.
UAE club Al-Wahda, which met the transfer fee conditions, emerged as a strong destination, and Denmark's Mitwillan also expressed his intention to participate in the recruitment campaign, but Kim Joo-sung was already in a mood to some extent due to his trip to Hiroshima, which had already shown sincerity in recruiting him around mid-July. It is known that he made up his mind by watching the plays of J-League players playing in the East Asian Cup, especially Hiroshima players. Kim Joo-sung, who formed a consensus on the transfer early in mid-July, kept his promise to do his best for the remaining three games (one game is absent from disciplinary action).
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Kim Joo-sung, who will depart for Hiroshima on Aug. 1, said, `FC Seoul is the beginning of my soccer career and the most valuable team that I have ever been able to grow. Thanks to the support of the guardian gods who were with us, we were able to overcome many moments, and we are always grateful. I'll do my best to show you a good performance on a new stage in Japan with the pride of being a native of FC Seoul," he said, expressing his feelings about his overseas expansion through the club.
Meanwhile, Seoul said it expects Lee Do-do Jung Tae-wook, who was newly recruited this season, and Park Sung-hoon and Kim Ji-won, a youth resource, to fill Kim Joo-sung's gap.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
