So we've had a pretty interesting summer so far with Son Heung Min headlining the changes so far, breaking Bayer Leverkusen's transfer record.
Transfer News:
Son Heung Min to Bayer Leverkusen: Son Heung Min follows the footsteps of the greatest Korean footballer in Cha Bem Kun who also played for Bayer in the 80s. His goal scoring total may drop a bit as he will be playing wide with Kiessling cemented as the forward in Bayer's 4-3-3. But he will be surrounded by what should be a stronger team than Hamburg and he will get his first experience in Champions League football. With established leaders in Bayer such as Kiessling, Bender and Rolfes, he can hopefully focus on the football and reaching the next level ahead of WC '14.
Koo Ja Cheol back to Wolfsburg (for now): Koo returns from 1.5 seasons in Augsburg as a bigger name having established his reputation across the Bundesliga by being so pivotal to Augsburg's survival. Koo seemed reluctant to return to Wolfsburg, where he struggled to integrate into the squad and culture, albeit under their old manager Magath. He even went as so far as to publicly state his desire to go to Mainz who sought him to be their "10". Allofs, Wolfsburg's sporting director, however quickly reiterated multiple times that he will not sell as Koo figures prominently in their plans. Since they already have Diego as their key player already in the 10 spot, it would most likely moving Koo to defensive midfielder if he were to start. Koo's had a rough start to camp missing a week of training due to a severe bruise and we will see if he moves on or stays.
Ji Dong Won back to Sunderland (for now): Like Koo, Ji Dong Won also raised his German stature in Augsburg, scoring numerous key goals to keep Augsburg in the Bundesliga. Sunderland seem willing to sell him for a good price, with Augsburg already stating that buying Ji would be impossible amid umored Dortmund interest. That said, Paolo Di Canio seems to be overhauling Sunderland's squad and perhaps Ji fits into his plans even if PDC already has two forwards ahead of Ji. Another player to watch in the upcoming weeks.
Park Joo Ho to Mainz 05: Park Joo Ho impressed Mainz (who appear to have a preference for Asian players with interest in Koo and buying PJH and Okazaki) with his Champions/Europa League performances and earned a trip to the Bundesliga where Mainz needed a LB and PJH appeared to be falling out of favor at Basel. At Mainz he will have a quite a different challenge with the higher level of play but lower expectations vs Basel who were nearly always expected to win.
Ryu Seung Woo rejects Dortmund: After a strong U20 WC and Toulon performances, RSW was offered a spot by Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund. Yet seeming daunted by the jump from university football and the potential penalty of failure (5 yr ban from K League), Ryu turned them down. Perhaps Dortmund will revisit when Ryu's had some time as a professional footballer and when the K League ban is no longer a threat, but I can't help but be disappointed by the decision. Certainly scouts will be tracking the kid now that BVB stated their interest, but on the other hand so many things could go wrong between being buried in the Korean NT (behind stars like Son, Lee Chung Yong, and Kim Bo Kyung) or injury that this seems like a rare opportunity to learn under one of the best managers out there. Time will tell if this was the right decision but clearly BVB believed he was ready to the jump and would have nurtured his career along as well.
Yoo Byung Soo to FC Rostov: Can't say that I follow Russian football any more than middle eastern football, but it is impressive to see a footballer escape what is often seen by many as a high paying retirement home for big name stars.
The window still has nearly a month and a half left in it so it should be an interesting summer still off the pitch as much as on.
