#KLUPod

With it being the off-season, the K League United Podcast is taking a different direction. For this week's episode is what we're calling a 'KLU Podumentary' and a special chat with Dejan Damjanović on what it takes to be the very best.

Summer Dejan, as he was called in K League due to his ability to thrive in Korea’s humid summer months, maybe in the autumn of his career but he’s still one of the best strikers in Asia. The Hong Kong Premier League might not be on the same level as K League. Still, Dejan’s goal record - in a very competitive league - speaks for itself: 14 appearances, 17 goals and three assists domestically in what was basically half a season in 2021/22.

In AFC Champions League that year Dejan scored four in six to move to the top of the competition’s all-time scoring charts. He has 43 and is six ahead of his next rival Lee Dong-gook but is 11 ahead of anyone who is still playing, namely Elkeson. The Brazilian, however, has since moved back to Brazil from Guangzhou and so Dejan is likely to keep hold of his ACL goal record for the foreseeable future.

And this isn’t even during a spell which would be called his prime. That will have been shortly after he joined FC Seoul. For a two or three-year spell perhaps more, Dejan was the best striker in Asia. When he and FC Seoul won the K League title in 2010 and 2012, and then reached the AFC Champions League Final in 2013, in particular, Dejan was the hottest property in Asia. Simply put, he was the best striker on the continent and could have played for any team within it that he liked.

But what does it take to reach that level? In this KLU Podumentaty, we find out.