Transfers: FC Seoul Sign Striker Aleksandar Pešić

After a long pursuit, FC Seoul have bolstered their attacking options with the acquisition of Serbian striker Aleksandar Pešić. The 2017/2018 Serbian Super Liga top goal scorer joins on an 18-month loan deal from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad with a permanent transfer said to follow upon completion of the initial loan. 
(Image via FC Seoul)


FC Seoul's long wait for attacking reinforcements is finally over with the Club adding 26 year-old striker Aleksandar Pešić, initially on an 18-month loan deal from Al-Ittihad.

Nearly 60 days had passed since FC Seoul's last acquisition, Uzbekistan international midfielder Ikromjon Alibaev, and with less than three weeks to go until the start of the 2019 season, the pressure was beginning to mount on gaffer Choi Yongsoo.

Earlier in the window Seoul had parted company with Bojan Matić, reinforcing Coach Choi's intent to add a foreign striker to the Club's ranks. Anderson Lopes' loan with the club ended at the end of the 2018 campaign and has since joined J.League 1 outfit Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.

Pešić joined Al-Ittihad in July last year on a three-year contract and was a teammate of former Suwon Bluewings central defender Matthew Jurman, making 11 appearances and scoring once before securing the move to K League.

The Niš-native has experience in France's Ligue 1 with Toulouse as well as Serie A in Italy having had a short spell on loan with Atalanta. In 2017 the towering forward returned to Serbia with Red Star Belgrade, winning the Super Liga title and scoring 25 goals in 35 appearances in the process to top the league's scoring charts.

Speaking via FC Seoul's official social media channels, Pešić said:

"I am very happy to come to one of the biggest clubs in Korea. I see the city, I see the stadium, I see the training centre and it's all perfect.

"I come here to see what is my best quality, I come here to play well, to win games, to score a lot of goals and assists. My body is ready for the training because I am a professional footballer, I am always ready.

"The league is aggressive, a fast league because the players are very fast and play strong with contact. It is one of the best league's in Asia and I will see after the first two or three games how the system is and how the play is and the league.

"I come to Seoul to give my maximum, I don't know what will happen in the games and in the league. Maybe I'll score 20 goals, maybe 30, maybe one - this is football. But I come to give my maximum and give my best for the club."

FC Seoul have also been linked to another foreign striker, Dutch-born South Africa international Lars Veldwijk from Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch second division.

At present, all four foreign player spots are taken and so, should the club feel the need to bring in Veldwijk, who has 17 goals from 20 appearances this season, someone will have to make way.

Question marks remain over Brazilian forward Evandro Paulista who is not believed to be with the rest of the squad in Kagoshima, Japan. The 31 year-old, who joined from Daegu after a stellar end to the 2017 season, managed just three goals last term and remains conspicuous by his absence.