Transfer Latest – Jeong Ho-Yeon close to joining Celtic

Celtic are apparently close to expanding their Asian contingent in the January transfer window, with the speculation that they are chasing Jung Ho-Yeon…

The Gwangju FC star is edging closer to a move to European football and his manager, Lee Jung-Hyo, has recently stating that a move to the Scottish Premiership Champions was in the offing and advancing.

The midfielder won the K-League Young Player of the Year in his homeland after helping them to a third-place finish domestically. Highly-rated in South Korea, the engine room man is apparently a good tackler and could provide that something different in the middle of the park for the Hoops, which has been badly lacking for some time now.

The player himself has revealed that he is due to move this coming window to a European club and Celtic was named when asked directly about the speculation. As reported by Chosun, he said: “A move into into Europe is slowly getting closer. During the last season, scouts from some European clubs, including Celtic, came to see me play in person. If I could choose a league, I want to play in the Spanish Primera Liga. From an early age, I loved FC Barcelona’s style of football.”

If this one turns out to be true, it will have to be a success as the club can no longer afford to give players settling in time and grace periods. Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu have both came to the Scottish club and neither have been at the level yet. Now, that’s not to say they cannot become good players in the future, but as it stands, Celtic have a backlog of players that we need to clear off the books permanently or develop elsewhere in the meantime.

Paul Gillespie