Transfer Talk: Daejeon Citizen

Daejeon Citizen's 20th Anniversary Emblem. Credit: DCFC.co.kr

Much like the weather on the Korean Peninsula this winter, there hasn't been much in the way of anything other than the dry cold but, despite a slow start to the winter transfer window, the snow came and so did a recent flurry of Daejeon transfer activity.

On Thursday of this week Daejeon sealed the signings of Kim Dae-Yeol from Daegu FC and Shin Hak-Young from Gyeongnam.

Credit: DCFC,co.kr

Midfielder Kim Dae-Yeol, 29, had been at Daegu since 2010 where he amassed 95 appearances for the Gyeongsangbuk Province-based side.

Meanwhile, Shin Hak-Young, a 22-year-old midfielder, made 24 appearances for new manager Lee Young-Ik's former side Gyeongnam last year in his second season as a professional.

The two aforementioned acquisitions came before it was announced not twenty four hours previous that the Purples had landed forward Jung Min-Woo from Suwon FC and midfielder Kim Jung-Joo from the now defunct National League side Ulsan Dolphins.

Credit: DCFC.co.kr

Jung Min-Woo netted just once last term for Suwon FC but was largely used from the bench whilst Kim Jung-Joo, whose signing was done relatively early in the window but wasn't made official by Daejeon until this week, was part of the now defunct Ulsan Dolphins side who won the National League Playoffs last year, scoring 6 goals in 23 appearances.

With star striker Kim Dong-Chan moving to Thai outfit BEC Tero Sasana, the Purples needed to fill the void left by their star player and K League Challenge MVP, certainly if they are to mount any sort of serious playoff push in 2017.


Kim Dong-Chan was the K League Challenge top scorer last year with 20 league goals but closely behind him was Daejeon's first big signing of the winter; Cristian Dănălache.

Credit: Sports.Donga.com

The towering Romanian forward, 34, netted 19 goals for Gyeongnam last season, including four against Daejeon alone.


His presence and guile should prove to be an asset to Citizen who will be looking to improve on last season's disappointing 7th place finish.

Next through the door is Dănălache's former teammate at Gyeongam, attacking midfielder Lee Ho-Seok, who himself managed to find the net nine times from midfield.

Much Like Dănălache was the second highest scorer in the Challenge last year, the twenty-five-year-old Korean Lee Ho-Seok finished the season as second highest assist maker.

Credit: DCFC.co.kr

The Daejeon fans will be hoping that the pair can link up as well as they did when they were wearing the red of the Gyeongsangnam Provinced-based outfit Gyeongnam.

This week Daejeon also announced the acquisition of teenage midfielder Levan Shengelia on loan from AFC Tubize of Belgium.

Daejeon Citizen legend Kim Eun-Jung, who is currently part of the coaching staff at Tubize, recommended the Georgian attacking midfielder to Daejeon, likewise the club to the player himself

Levan actually featured in Kim Eun-Jung's testimonial game last year where he scored Tubize's goal in a 3-1 win for Daejeon.

Levan for Tubize in Kim Eun-Jung's testimonial Credit: Levan's Facebook 

Forthcoming

Citizen have been strongly linked to Kim Jin-Kyu, the former FC Seoul and Republic of Korea national team central defender.

Kim Jin-Kyu's current club, Fagiano Okayama, have recently secured the signing of Seongnam FC central defender Jang Seok-Won which could perhaps pave the way for the 31-year-old to join Daejeon.

If social media activity could be considered as an indicator then it could be worth pointing out that Kim Jin-Hyu has recently been followed by and is himself following several Daejeon players on Instagram. 

The Purples have just one more non-Asian foreigner spot remaining but it seems unlikely that said spot will be taken up by Jean Claude-Bozga, the popular central defender who became a fans favourite at Purple Arena in 2016.

Bozga has had little to no contact from Daejeon and is said to have offers from a number of other K League clubs with the Romanian keen to stay in Korea.

Summary

Players In

Kim Jung-Joo - Ulsan Dolphins - Free Transfer
Cristian Dănălache - Gyeongnam FC - Free Transfer
Lee Ho-Seok - Gyeongnam FC - Free Transfer
Levan Shengelia - AFC Tubize - Loan
Jung Min-Woo - Suwon FC - Free Transfer
Jeon Soo-Hyun (formerly known as Jeon Tae-Hyun) - Jeju United - Free Transfer
Jang Won-Seok - Jeju United - Trade (as part of the Lee Dong-Soo deal)
Gong Yong-Hoon - Yongin University - Free Transfer
Park Woo-Jeong - Free Transfer
Jo Sang-Beom - Free Transfer
Hwang Jae-Jeong - Daejeon Citizen Academy

Players Out

Park Ju-Won - Asan Mugungwha (military service)- Loan
Lee Beom-Soo - Gyeongnam FC - Transfer
Lee Dong-Soo - Jeju United - Trasnfer
Kim Dong-Chan - BEC Tero Sasana - Free TransferYoo Seung-Wan - Gyeongju Citizen - Transfer
Kim Hyung-Jin - Released
Woo-Hyun - Released
Kim Hae-Sik - Released
Oh Chang-Hyun - Released
Yeom Gwang-Bin - Released
Choi Young-Hyo - Released
Kim Ji-Cheol - Released
Oh Hyuk-Jin - Released
Park Jun-Kyung - Released