Is Molina leaving? What about Dejan?

(When he is not busy coaching FC Seoul, noted hip-hop aficionado and legendary b-boy Choi Yong-soo  likes to rock the bells.  Image from youtube.com)

So I touched on some of Seoul's older players last week such as keeper Kim Yong-dae and defenders Kim Jin-kyu and Kim Chi-woo.  All have played a significant part in Seoul's success in the past.  However, all three also have found themselves out of the line-up these past three months and their replacements have been a big reason for Seoul's recent run of great form.

There were two other players I forgot to mention though.  Each has been at Seoul for what feels like forever.  They are Jung Jo-gook and Molina, obviously.

Other than a short spell at Auxerre and Ansan Police, Jung has been with Seoul his whole career.  I am sure he could not imagine moving on to a different but at the age of 31, time is ticking down on his career.  However, with only 11 appearances this year, he cannot be happy with that.  Then again, he might be happy cashing his checks and getting paid to stay in shape, but I imagine that Seoul will look to shift him on since they have Adriano, Park Chu-young, Yun Ju-tae and Kim Hyun-sung ahead of him as strikers.

Molina's contract finishes at the end of this year.  At 35 years of age and one of the league's most expensive players, I can't imagine him sticking around Seoul on the same wages even if he did have a good season.  According to Twitter (@KORFootball), with interest by Independiente Medillin it seems like he will return to Columbia to see out his career.  If that is the case, let's enjoy some career highlights.

Hopefully, Seoul must have some sort of contingency plan in place for his departure since they have been supposedly trying to get rid of him for the last two years.    I am curious to see who will replace him.  I was really hoping it would be Mislav Orsic, but he has signed with Jeonnam for 3 years.  Therefore, I am not sure who will replace him and there is talk on Twitter (h/t @RealSteveScores) that Choi still wants him to play for Seoul next year.

There is talk of Dejan coming back to the K-League, but I feel as though Seoul does not need another striker.  They need a midfielder, preferably someone who is creative.  Lee Seok-hyun played very well in the game against Suwon two weeks ago, but I am not sure if he is the answer.  I could see Ha Dae-sung, who is also rumored to be returning to Korea, being the one that returns to Seoul since he is only 30 and could probably still function very highly.

It would not surprise me though if Dejan resigns with Seoul.  It seems like Seoul goes for former legends (Jung Jo-gook, Park Chu-young, Cha Du-ri) that can fill the still fill the seats.  I sort of expected that it might be Lee Chong-yong since he does not really play much with Crystal Palace, but that is most likely wishful thinking.

From what I have seen on Twitter (h/t @KORFootball, @RealSteveScores), Dejan desires to be paid a million dollars but that is putting a lot of the clubs in the K-League off.  Therefore, the speculation I have seen is that he will a) return to FC Seoul, b) sign with Ulsan, or c) sign with Jeonbuk.  I feel as though Lee Dong-gook and Edu, both over 30, showed that age is not necessarily a detriment against success in the K-League as a striker.  Last year, he scored 18 goals for Beijing in all competitions , so someone will most likely shell out that amount for him.

Seoul will most likely have some wiggle room with salaries coming off the books.  Cha Du-ri is retiring, Molina might go back to Columbia, and I can't imagine keeper Kim Yong-dae wanting to warm the bench for another season.  Hopefully, Seoul can use that money to entice a player or two of quality to sign up next year.