2026 Season Preview: Daejeon Hana Citizen

The 2026 Hana Bank K League 1 season marks Daejeon Hana Citizen's fourth year back in the top flight. But what's different about this season is that the Purples are aiming to challenge for a first-ever top division title. 

Last Season

18 W-11 D-9 L, 2nd

What Happened?

Daejeon Hana Citizen recorded their best-ever finish to a K League 1 season last year, finishing as runners-up. The Purples were helped by being attack-minded with a forward line led by Joo Min-kyu, whose 14 goals were the team's highest. Daejeon scored 58 times, the third-highest total, from an xG of 54.7 (6th), by having one of the best shot conversion rates in the division, second only to Jeonbuk. Their tactical approach centred on winning the ball back quickly and supplying wide players with pace who could hurt teams on the counterattack. 

Daejeon were also sensible in the transfer market, moving to replace the injured Victor Bobsin - a key player in their system - with as good a like-for-like replacement domestically as there could be in Kim Bong-soo, and added attacking impetus with wide players Joao Victor and Hernandes Rodriques. 

Daejeon were consistent and were able to put together unbeaten runs of six or seven games at certain points in the campaign. Hwang Sun-hong's men were, more or less, just as dangerous at home as they were away, earning 10 home wins and eight on the road with four losses at Purple Arena and five away from it. They led the league in the earlier part of the campaign, but their undoing was a poor record against eventual champions Jeonbuk, picking up just one point from the four league meetings all season.

[READ: Daejeon Hana Citizen 2025 Season Review]

Notable Moves

Daejeon have taken a quality over quantity approach to the winter transfer window, adding players with title-winning pedigree. Wing duo Gustav Ludwigson and Um Won-sang arrive from Ulsan HD, while powerful Brazilian striker Diogo Oliveira will provide competition for Joo Min-kyu in attack. Cho Seong-gwon, who has worked under Hwang Sun-hong with the U23 national team, signs to provide competition for the right centre back spot. The club have also signed Joao Victor and Ha Chang-rae on permanent deals, having spent the 2025 season on loan.

[READ: Daejeon's winter recruits and where they might fit in]

Key Player 

Joo Min-kyu

Even at 35, soon to be 36, Joo Min-kyu is still lethal in front of goal. He is also a very clever player with excellent vision to feed teammates and help start (and sometimes finish) counterattacks from deep. Not only will he most likely be Daejeon's top scorer again, but he has a lot of experience in winning teams and in the AFC Champions League. The phrase "winning mentality" gets used a lot, but Joo brings that to Daejeon and as skipper, his influence will be felt even more in and around the place. There also seems to be an eagerness from the other players to impress Joo, and who better to learn from than someone who has been there and done it all. 

Young Player to Watch

Kim Hyeon-oh

The U22 rule is no more in K League 1, not in the same way it was at least. Instead, teams will need to have two U22 players on the bench if they are to have a full nine-man bench. Daejeon don't have too many U22 players left, having sent Kim Han-seo and Lee Jun-gyu out on loan to Yongin FC and Gimhae FC 2008, respectively, and Kim Hyeon-oh to Gyeongnam. It means that Daejeon are gonig to have to pluck some kids out of the academy to make a full bench, or just have two substitutes fewer than they're permitted to.

Biggest Question 

Are Daejeon really title contenders?

Daejeon have not been shy in saying that the aim is to challenge for the title this season. They finished second last year, but once Jeonbuk leapfrogged them into top spot, the Purples never looked like returning to the K League 1 summit. Recruitment has been good, but the club have also lost influential coach Yoshida Tatsuma so there'll be question marks as to whether the magic is still there from the last 18 months. 

Reason to Watch 

Jeonbuk and Ulsan have dominated K League for the last 12 years, mostly the former, leading to calls for other teams to step up, for owners to invest, and to try to break the duopoly. Daejeon are showing what can be done if an owner invests heavily in a football club. The club is ambitious but the owners want to see a return on their investment. The 2026 season will be a good test to see if Daejeon can repay them with some silverware.