Bucheon FC 1995 January Departures 2021

 

A total of 21 players have left Bucheon FC 1995 so far in this 2021 winter transfer window. While replacements have been found, it will hard for Bucheon fans not to miss a lot of these players, many of whom formed the core of the side in recent years. Our Bucheon columnist George Slade profiles each player that has left the squad so far this winter.

Loans Expired

Of all the players on loan at Bucheon last season, only Choe Byeong-chan has remained at the club for 2021. The other four - Lee Hyun-il, Choi Bong-jin, Gu Bon-chul, and Ju Jong-dae - have all departed. 26 year old centre-forward Lee Hyun-il was Bucheon's top scorer last season with four goals. Instead of returning to his parent club Seongnam, Lee has moved to fellow K League 1 club Pohang Steelers. Similarly, 28 year old Choi Bong-jin, Bucheon's number one goalkeeper last season, has departed his parent club of Gwangju to move to newly promoted Suwon FC. 21 year old centre-back Gu Bon-chul and 24 year old right-back Ju Jong-dae have both returned to Incheon United. Gu played a total of nine matches for Bucheon in 2020, while Ju made six appearances all season.

Contract Expired

Some players that have had their Bucheon contracts expire have already found their feet at new clubs. 25 year old left-winger Suh Myeong-won has signed for Jeonnam Dragons after only one season at the club, one in which he only made 10 appearances in all competitions. Suh previously had spells at Daejeon Citizen, Ulsan Hyundai, and Gangwon. Two other players that have signed for new clubs after only one season at Bucheon - albeit more successful ones - are 27 year old centre-back Kim Young-chan and 28 year old right-winger William Barbio. Ex-Jeonbuk, Daegu, Suwon FC, and FC Anyang player Kim has moved to Gyeongnam after an impressive year at Bucheon, where he made 21 appearances and scored his first two professional goals as he cemented himself as one of the league's top defenders. 

Bucheon are now currently left without any foreigners after the departure of Barbio. After spending his whole career in his homeland of Brazil Barbio gave a good account of himself in his debut season in the K League, earning himself a move to Seoul E-land after scoring three goals and assisting once in 25 matches for Bucheon. Meanwhile, on paper somewhat of a Bucheon veteran, but in reality someone who rarely played, 28 year old back-up goalkeeper Lee Young-chang has moved down to K3 League club Cheonan City after three years at Bucheon. Always the understudy at Bucheon, Lee played a total of 11 matches in those three seasons, four of which came in 2020. Prior to this he played 10 times in his sole season at Daejeon Citizen in 2017, and 30 matches for the now defunct club Chungju Hummel between 2015 and 2016. 

Three of the players released by Bucheon had only been at the club for one or two seasons: Gam Han-sol; Lee Tae-ho; Yoon Shin-young. 27 year old right-back Gam is the longest serving of the trio, having joined Bucheon in January 2019. After only making sporadic appearances at his first club Daegu, and being a rotation player at his second club Seoul E-land, Gam finally became a first team regular in his first season at Bucheon, playing 34 matches in all competitions in 2019. He also scored twice and assisted three times, but that form was not enough to prevent him slipping down the pecking order in 2020, where he made 114 appearances and failed to score or assist. He at least made more appearances than 29 year old centre-back Lee and 33 year old centre-back Yoon combined, who played five and six matches respectively, in what was to be their sole season at Bucheon for the both of them. Ex Seoul E-land and Gangwon player Lee could do well to consider a move abroad if possible, as his time in Japan was arguably his most successful. K League veteran and former Daejeon Citizen and Gyeongnam player Yoon has also spent time abroad, in Japan and China, and at his age if he does not wish to retire he will be looking to play anywhere that will offer him a contract, so he might be seen in the K3 League this coming season.

Kim Young-nam is arguably the most high-profile Bucheon player to leave the club. The 29 year old central midfielder was last year's captain and had been at the club since January 2015, with his time only interrupted by national service at Asan Mugunghwa. Prior to joining Bucheon, Kim spent three years at Seongnam, where he only played eight matches in all competitions. At Bucheon Kim's game time increased, so much so that he ends his time at the club as their fifth most capped player, playing 112 matches and scoring seven goals along with six assists. The three remaining released players - Kim Ji-ho, Lee Kwang-jae Chu Min-yeol - have all made less of an impact at Bucheon, having all joined the club in 2018. 23 year old attacking midfielder Kim is the only one of the trio to have played for a different club due to him spending last season on loan at K3 League club Cheongju. He played nine times for Cheongju, while at Bucheon he made 12 appearances across two seasons. 22 year old left-winger Lee was a regular in his debut season, playing 29 matches and scoring three goals. The first of these goals, on the 22nd April 2018 in a 3-1 defeat to Ansan Greeners, made him Bucheon's youngest goalscorer of all time at 19 years 10 months 12 days. However, in the subsequent two years he only made a total of 12 appearances, registering one assist. 22 year old attacking midfielder Chu only made one cup appearance last year, and played all of his other six matches in 2018. All three of these players will hopefully get one more game time at their next clubs. 

[READ: 2020 Season Review Bucheon FC 1995]

Contract Terminated

23 year old centre-back Kwon Seung-ri has departed Bucheon, the club he signed his first professional contract for, after two years at the club. In his debut season Kwon only played in two matches, while last year he made 13 appearances, with almost half coming on as a substitute. His time at at the club equals that of 26 year old right-back Park Yo-han, a fellow 2019 signing. Park first signed a professional contract in 2016 for Gangwon, and spent the 2018 season on loan at then-National League club Gimhae. While Park was a regular stater for Gimhae and a rotation player at Gangwon, he only played 11 times for Bucheon and scored once, featuring in just two matches last year. 

Another signing from 2019 being released is 24 year-old right-back Choi Hyun-bin. Choi made a single appearance for Bucheon in 2019, coming in the FA Cup, before being loaned out to K3 League club Cheongju last year, where he only managed to play in three matches in all competitions. He has made the same number of processional appearances as former teammate Kim Ho-jun. The 24 year old centre-back was only a Bucheon player for one season, and like Choi he was restricted to just one FA Cup appearance. In 2019 Kim was a Seoul E-land player, where he played three times in the K League 2.

Loaned/Transferred Out

25 year old Jung Taek-hoon, who made 22 appearances for Gyeongju KHNP on loan last season, has had his loan extended. Jung, who was the 2017 U-League MVP while at Korea University, has only played 16 matches for Bucheon in the two seasons he spent there prior to his loan. 25 year old attacking midfielder Lee Jeong-chan, has transferred permanently to Gyeongju KHNP. Lee signed for Bucheon from Hongik University in 2017 and played in a total of 64 matches over the last four seasons, scoring twice and making two assists. Last season he made 15 appearances and scored once.