2025 Season Review: Daejeon Hana Citizen

Daejeon Hana Citizen enjoyed a hugely successful 2025 Hana Bank K League 1 season, finishing second to qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite and setting new club records.

What Went Well

Daejeon finished as runners-up and qualified for the AFC Champions League Elite, so quite a lot went well for the Purples. They found a reliable goalscorer in Joo Min-kyu, they remained mostly consistent throughout the season with no major slumps in form, and they had a good split between their number of home wins (10) and away wins (18). 

It was a milestone year for Citizen, runners-up marks the club's best-ever finish, and since the introduction of the split system in 2012, Daejeon had never finished in the top half of K League 1. The club have also qualified for the AFC Champions League through league positioning for the first time. A total of 65 points matches the club's best at K League 1 level, and 18 wins also matches Citizen's record, but both were set in 2003 in a 44-game season. This means Daejeon have set new points per game and win percentage records of 1.71 points and 47.4%, respectively.

Recruitment can be regarded as a success, too; the summer window in particular, with exactly the right sort of players brought in: a near-enough like-for-like replacement for the injured Victor Bobsin, a right winger to replace Yoon Do-young in Joao Victor, a top class left back to replace the injured Park Kyu-hyun in Lee Myung-jae, and another forward who could make an impact in Hernandes Rodrigues.

[READ: Five teams that had milestone years]

What Didn't Go Well

Daejeon struggled to keep clean sheets and sometimes lived a bit dangerously. They have one of the best goalkeepers in the league in Lee Chang-geun, and he consistently proves how good he is because he's kept busy. Nine cleansheets was only enough for joint eighth (with 11th-placed Jeju), with Gangwon and Jeonbuk leading the way in that regard with 15. 

Daejeon were the best of the rest, the most in-form team among all who dared to challenge Jeonbuk, but once the Purples fell off top spot, they never looked like returning. It's uncharted territory for the club and for a lot of the players, but they were just unable to pose Jeonbuk any problems, losing to the Green Warriors three times from the four meetings and taking one mere point from them. 

Young Player of the Year

Daejeon didn't really have a go-to U22 player this season, with a few different youngsters tried after Yoon Do-young left. A 17-year-old winger, Kim Hyeon-oh, scored on his debut, but finished the season being hooked after 15 minutes. Attacking midfielder Lee Jun-gyu mostly came off the bench to help facilitate a fifth sub but was still able to make 19 appearances, while central midfielder Kim Han-seo got 10 appearances and made the most passes among any U22 player at the club. Kim Han-seo looked the most mature of them all, and nearer to the finished article with his tidy passing and good vision, but has since joined K League 2 newcomers Yongin FC on loan now that the U22 rule has been scrapped in the top flight.

[READ: Is Daejeon a football city?]

Team MVP

Every year, this has gone to goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun but Joo Min-kyu breaks that tradition this season, offering some insight perhaps into the shift away from relegation worries to top six ambition. Joo was Daejeon's top scorer with a very healthy 14 with three assists. He finished just three goals shy of the Golden Boot winner Pablo Sabbag, and perhaps could have added to his tally had it not been for a shoulder injury curtailing his campaign. 

As any top marksman does, Joo scored plenty of important goals: winners against Suwon FC, Ulsan, Gangwon, and Daegu, as well as goals in tight games that, without them, would have meant points dropped. In short, including match winners, Joo Min-kyu's goals and assists were the difference in Daejeon earning 16 points more.

Honourable mentions must also go to Daejeon's two entrants in the 2025 K League 1 Best XI, full backs Lee Myung-jae and Kim Moon-hwan, and Masatoshi Ishida, whose fall form helped get Daejeon over the line.

Most Disappointing Player

Jeong Jae-hee had, aside from an injury-shortened 2023, productive seasons for Pohang with 26 goals and eight assists across 92 appearances. But the right winger never seemed to get going in Daejeon colours. He began the season not fully fit and seemed to play catch-up throughout the campaign, and was absent from the match-day squad 12 times. Of his 24 appearances, only two were starts, and he didn't last the full 90 in either of those games. With competition for places somewhat extreme at Daejeon, Jeong may leave for pastures new in 2026, but regardless of where the 31-year-old ends up, he'll need a full pre-season to avoid a repeat of 2025.

[READ: 2025 K League 1 Season Review]

Most Important Decision of the Off-Season

Daejeon need to trim their squad but add quality in order to compete on three fronts next year. There are currently four left backs on the club's books and three right backs, and with Gustav Ludwigson and Um Won-sang arriving from Ulsan, one or two too many wingers. They need to have a serious rethink about their recruitment policy because, while quality players came in during this summer and last, maintaining squad harmony is only going to become more difficult with more arrivals. 

Daejeon also need to properly replace tactics coach Yoshida Tatsuma, the man said to be the brains behind the system used last year that saw a remarkable turnaround to avoid relegation, and a tweaked version this year that, ultimately, led to the runners-up finish. Hwang Sun-hong fought to keep the Japanese former Kashiwa Reysol manager, but he has returned to J.League with Kyoto Sanga. A coach with a similar CV is who they are after to replace Tatsuma, but this appointment could be make or break for Hwang as, on the surface, he has rebuilt his career and, to a certain extent, his reputation at Daejeon.