A sign of great European migration! Munich Lee Hyun-joo goes to Portugal's first division Aruka...A three-year contract for a transfer fee of 2.4 billion won

Jul 23, 2025

Lee Hyun-joo, a next-generation offensive midfielder who played for Bayern Munich, has made a surprise move to Portugal's first division Aruca. Lee Hyun-joo, a former Pohang Youth player, joined Munich in 2022 and made a big splash. He made his national team debut in 2024. Source = Aruka Club SNS

Midfielder Lee Hyun-joo (22), a former youth representative, left for another league after failing to fulfill his dream in Bayern Munich.

Munich announced on its official website on the 23rd (Korea time) that Lee Hyun-joo will completely transfer to Portugal's first division Aruka. The Aruka team also said on its official channel that it has reached an agreement with Munich on recruiting Lee Hyun-joo as a 'Korean national team'

Lee Hyun-joo took an official photo wearing Aruka's yellow uniform. The uniform number was received 14, and the contract period is 3 years until 2028.

According to the Portuguese daily 'Hecord', Aruca's transfer fee for recruiting Lee Hyun-joo was 1.5 million euros (about 2.42 billion won), which is equivalent to a club record. It exceeded the transfer fee of Dylan Nandin, who recorded 1.4 million euros (about 2.25 billion won). In addition, 7 million euros (about 11.3 billion won) of the buyout clause has been inserted into the contract, and 20% of the transfer fee must be handed over to Munich in accordance with the Selon clause in the future.

Lee Hyun-joo will share the same team again with Japanese midfielder Fukui Daichi, who was a teammate of Munich. Fukui transferred for 1 million euros (about 1.61 billion won).

Lee Hyun-joo, a former Pohang Steelers Youth, made a surprise transfer to Munich, a famous German house, on a complete transfer condition after pre-lease in January 2022.

Source=Björn Munich homepage capture

Lee Hyun-joo, who grew up on the Munich reserve team and the Munich U-19 team, left on loan to Bechen Wiesbaden in the 2023-2024 season and Hanover 96 in the 2024-2025 season. In the German second division, he played in a total of 52 matches and scored seven goals.

As a member of the Munich reserve team, Legionali scored 10 goals in 26 matches in the second division. Unlike Jung Woo-young (Suttgart), he failed to make his debut in Munich's first team unfortunately.

The contract with Munich is still two more years away until June 2027, but the transfer was carried out with the desire to play in the European top league.

Lee Hyun-joo, a short (1m70) offensive midfielder with both mobility and creativity, made his debut in the senior national team through the 2026 North-China World Cup Asian qualifying match against Kuwait in November last year.

Lee Hyun-joo showed off his presence at Hanover in Germany's second division in the 2024-2025 season. Source = Hanover 96 SNS

Lee Hyun-joo professional career. Source = Flash Score

Founded in 1951, Aruka has been playing in the Portuguese first lady Primera Liga since 2021. It made a splash by ranking a surprise fifth in the 2022-2023 season, but remained in 12th place last season.

Meanwhile, Korean players playing in Europe this summer are unusually frequent in transfers. Playmaker Yoon Do-young, who joined Brighton, left on loan to Excelsior in the Netherlands. Offensive midfielder Ko Young-joon left the Serbian stage and moved to Gurnik Zavze, Poland. Defender Kim Ji-soo, who played for Brentford in England, left on loan to Kaiserslautern in the second division of Germany. Midfielder Cho Jin-ho left Fenerbahce and built a new nest in Konyaspor. Celtic midfielder Kwon Hyuk-kyu and Mainz midfielder Hong Hyun-seok are set to join France's Nantes side by side. Yang Min-hyuk (Tottenham) and Yang Hyun-joon (Celtic) are also raising the possibility of renting or transferring.