2025 Season Preview: Daejeon Hana Citizen

After two seasons looking to avoid relegation, Daejeon Hana Citizen head into their third season back in K League 1 in 2025. Can the Purples reach the top six, or even qualify for the AFC Champions League?

Last Season

12 wins, 12 draws, 14 losses, 48 points - 8th place

What Happened?

The 2024 season saw Daejeon pick up the same number of wins as in 2023 and finish in the same position in the table but how those matches were won and how an eighth-place finish came to be was very different from the Purples' first season back in the top flight. 

Instead of starting well like Daejeon did in 2023, they struggled to get going and had to part company with the manager before seeing a turnaround. A complete tactical overhaul and summer transfer window which saw 11 players arrive saw a Hwang Sun-hong-led team finish strongly with four wins and a draw in Final B. Safety was sealed in Round 37 via a 2-1 away win over Incheon, a result that also condemned the Durumi to relegation.

[READ: 2024 Daejeon Hana Citizen season review]

Notable Moves

Daejeon have made some statement signings in the window with Joo Min-kyu joining from Ulsan HD and Jeong Jae-hee from Pohang to bolster their attacking options. Hwang Sun-hong has also beefed up his back line with the arrivals of Korean international left back Park Kyu-hyun as well as experienced centre backs Ha Chang-rae and Lim Jong-eun. There has been very much a win-now approach to the winter window with Daejeon looking to put relegation battles and Final B behind them.

[READ: Where Daejeon's winter signings might fit in]

Key Player

Masatoshi Ishida

His goals and assists essentially saved Daejeon from relegation last season, after the Japanese returned to the club in the summer with the team bottom of the table. He got six goals and three assists in 15 appearances last season, a very impressive return considering the team were in a relegation dog fight. When 'Masa' is on form and when things are clicking for him, the team tends to do well too. He is very much a perfectionist and holds himself to high standards, something that can only be a good thing in terms of his influence in the dressing room. Daejeon have a lot of attacking midfielders or wingers but Masa will be a dead cert to start, probably as the attacking midfielder or a second striker in possession. 

Young Player to Watch

Yoon Do-young

Enjoy watching Yoon Do-young while you can because he won't be with Daejeon for much longer, nor will he be in K League much longer for that matter. The 18-year-old has caught the attention of scouts in Europe but the feeling is that he has more to learn at Daejeon first before any move abroad is considered. He's also due to play in the U20 AFC Asian Cup so will miss the start of the 2025 season. While this is an inconvenience in the short term, as Hwang Sun-hong will have to look at another U22 option, it should at least keep Yoon at the club until the summer.

Yoon was an important player for Daejeon in the latter half of the season, too, scoring once and assisting three in 19 appearances. More than the stats suggest, though, he made things happen, he ran at players, drew fouls, won penalties, helped with the press, and added energy to Daejeon's forward line. Being Daejeon's clear best U22 player, Yoon will be one to watch as a starter once he returns from international duty.

Biggest Question

Can Hwang Sun-hong find the right balance?

Hwang Sun-hong, helped by tactics coach Tatsuma Yoshida, transformed the way Daejeon played last year. Daejeon became a high-press, counterattacking team and were very effective. But there seems to be some kind of shame attached to counterattacking with coaches seemingly obsessed with playing out from the back. Daejeon got stung with attempting to do this last season; it led to former manager Lee Min-sung losing his job, so it is very important that Daejeon don't change too much too soon. Granted, with Joo Min-kyu arriving, clearly the double false-nine system is something that Hwang will move away from but those same principles that helped him guide Daejeon to safety shouldn't be abandoned. In K League 1, the line between success and failure is very thin, and attempting to start again from scratch would be dangerous. 

Reason to Watch

Daejeon have invested in the playing squad again in the off-season, adding some big names and clearly showing their intent to be toward the top four. Hwang Sun-hong is a manger who has faced a lot of ridicule and criticism for what happened during his time at FC Seoul and with the Korea U23 side, so he needs to continue to rebuild his reputation. Whether he can push Daejeon up to that next level will be something to keep tabs on.

Where to Watch K League

Watch all K League 1 & 2 matches live, for free, and in HD on TV.KLeague.com. Four matches per K League 1 round will be selected for English commentary.

Squad Numbers

1. Lee Chang-geun
2. Park Kyu-hyun
3. Ha Chang-rae
4. Kim Hyeon-woo
5. Lim Jong-eun
6. Kang Yoon-seong
7. Masatoshi Ishida
8. Victor Bobsin
9. Vladislavs Gutkovskis
10. Joo Min-kyu
11. Kim In-gyun
12. Kim Seung-dae
13. Jung Woo-bin
14. Kim Jun-beom
15. Lim Deok-geun
16. Kim Gyeong-hwan
17. Choi Geon-joo
19. Shin Sang-eun
20. Jeong Jin-woo
22. Oh Jae-suk
23. Kim Min-woo
24. Park Jin-seong
25. Lee Jun-seo
27. Jeong Jae-hee
28. Aaron Calver
30. Bae Seo-joon
31. Kim Min-soo
33. Kim Moon-hwan
35. Cho Hyun-woo
44. Lee Soon-min 
66. Kim Han-seo
70. Kim Hyeon-ug
71. Kelvin Giacobe
73. Lee Jun-gyu
77. Yoon Do-young
88. Lee Jung-taek
89. Jeong San
98. Anton Kryvotsyuk
99. Cheon Seong-hoon