Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Wolves in Dublin at the weekend brought up many different questions for Celtic fans to sink their teeth into. One of those questions being the potential roles both Yang Hyun-Jun and Kwon Hyeok-Kyu will play this season, after the Korean pair made their debut for the club on Saturday.
Yang Hyun-Jun impressed with the limited time he had on the field, and very much reminds me of Liel Abada when he first came to the club. Quick, direct and not afraid to have a pop at goal from distance, but still quite raw.
Kwon Hyeok-Kyu on the other hand looked slightly more assured in his play and excited me more due to our lack of a player like Kwon in the defensive midfield position. At six foot two, Kwon effortlessly intercepted multiple Wolves passes in that number six position. His strength in the tackle is another positive in what was an impressive cameo from the South Korean u23 international.
In Korea, Kwon was compared to Man City’s defensive midfielder and Champions League winner Rodri. This a comparison that definitely seems valid even from the limited time Kwon has been on the field for Celtic.
However, the South Korean’s pace is something that surprised me a great deal. With his height, a lack of pace would have been something he would have been forgiven for, but Kwon effortlessly moved across the pitch and chased down Wolves players with ease.
Pace, strength and physicality are all exciting attributes that we have not seen in a Celtic number six in a long time, possibly Victor Wanyama being the last Celtic player to come close to that description.
Both Yang and Kwon look exciting talents, with the latter a player I feel will have a surprisingly big role to play in the upcoming season.
