It's always a bit tricky to do a season preview after watching little summer friendlies due to vacation and before the window closes and everything is settled. On the latter point, I'll do my best to update as changes happen though I don't see anything major happening outside of maybe Kim Bo Kyung finding a club outside the UK.
England
Ki Sung Yueng - Swansea City - Swansea will have a tough time repeating the incredible season of last year when they narrowly missed Europa League spot. And certainly Ki will have a similar challenge of following up to a Supporters' Player of the Year season and scoring 8 goals. Swansea have since reinforced themselves with some buys that already look promising, such as Ayew, and more importantly keeping players like Ki and for once, appear to have at least a semblance of depth. Nowhere is that more true than at Ki's spots, where Ki, Shelvey, Cork could battle for 2 spots in 4-2-3-1, or the additional competition of Montero and Sigursson in 4-3-3 or diamond.
Where Ki lines up when he plays is uncertain as well. At DM, he's been very reliable (such as at Sunderland) but less defensive than Cork (though he held up well vs Chelsea before going off with injury). In the slightly more advanced "8" role, Ki proved to be incredibly influential with the high number of touches to contribute on both ends of the pitch. In a wider role in the diamond, Ki showed the least influence but has counteracted that with greater goal threat.
Season goal: Another season like last would be quite an accomplishment and help build Ki's reputation as one of the top central midfielders in Premier League, but it's far from a given with higher expectations for both him and Swansea, but he'll be given all the opportunity to shine. Hopefully his hamstring injury suffered on first weekend is as mild as originally thought.
Lee Chung Yong - Crystal Palace - His return to the Premier League wasn't quite what we had hoped, first with a late start as he struggled to return from a hairline leg fracture suffered during the Asian Cup. And his first PL action was ruined by an errant pass leading to an opposition goal. Yet he's done well in the friendlies so far this summer as he attempts to start this season on a better foot, including winning MOTM in the first match of the Supercup.
That said, the competition for a spot in CPFC's starting XI and even bench is very high, with LCY looking like a sub option out wide to start the season behind Zaha and Bolasie, and possibly Sako who was just added. He suffered a minor injury in the last friendly and missed out on the first match.
Season goal: A successful season will be LCY starting to earn some starting minutes and hopefully contributing even as a sub with goals and assists.
Yun Suk Young - QPR - Another frustrating start to the season for Yun who missed summer training with a knee injury and as a result, has seen QPR buy another LB to fill in at his spot while he recovers over the first month or two of the season. His career so far has been marked by both injuries and inconsistency, garnering praise from pundits one week, and being totally embarassed by an error the next. And when he does find some consistent form, he gets injured. His career so far has been as frustrating to him as it has been to us followers, and it's still unclear which player is the real Yun and missing an entire preseason doesn't help illuminate the mystery either.
Season goal: With this being the last season under contract combined with the new tighter FA rules that left Kim Bo Kyung frozen out despite multiple offers, it behooves that Yun get sorted and prove that he can at least excel at the Championship level and re-establish himself before next season.
Germany
Son Heung Min - Bayer Leverkusen - Son's season starts off early with CL playoffs vs tough opposition in Lazio. And for a player who has excelled in friendlies, it's been fairly quiet summer with no goals. Combining that with missing the first match of the season with red card suspension, Son should be fresh but will he be sharp when he gets into a real match?
With most of the team staying the same, there shouldn't be any major changes to what we saw last season in terms of time or formation. Mehmedi who is more of a forward than Son started during Son's suspension, though I suspect Schmidt will give Son the start once the season starts and will have plenty of opportunities to get back to early last season's form.
Season goal: Son needs to step up early with CL playoffs and hopefully group stages and finally turn hype and highlights into a top tier footballer.
Ryu Seung Woo - Bayer Leverkusen - His first season showed enough promise that his option exercised to turn what was an extended trial into a full contract. But injury plus tactical mismatch (they switched from 2 forward to 1 forward system) cut his season short last year, and this season remains a mystery as well. Leverkusen will probably want him to get a bit more development with another loan rather than be 3rd offensive option off the bench.
I'm not sure I see at this point a great tactical fit for him either, when the far more polished but similar Brandt remains on the bench behind more direct players like Son and Bellarabi. And even though Son is hardly a defensive stud, Ryu would most likely be a defensive liability out wide (thus his playing as 2nd striker last season).
Season goal: Get loaned out to a lower Bundesliga or top BL2 side and get regular minutes and show himself ready for Leverkusen or another permanent BL club this January or next summer.
Koo Ja Cheol - Mainz - This summer hasn't been ideal for Koo who's been used all over the pitch as Schmidt prepares him to be a utility player capable of filling in as a pseudo-false-9 but distinctly as a sub option, and not even coming on in their cup match last week. I think he's been nursing a minor injury but I don't see him starting the season in the first XI.
Season goal: Find a spot to contribute every week, even if off the bench. He has to figure out how to stay healthy and develop the instincts to excel at a single position and take advantage of his myriad skills.
Park Joo Ho - Mainz - The local press have written pieces saying Bengtsson and Park Joo Ho are neck and neck for the starting LB spot. I'm a little surprised given last season the quality of PJH's performances and the talk of moving up the table, such as to Tuchel's Dortmund side. Fortunately, PJH got the start in Mainz' first match and showed his quality with an assist and a very good performance. I don't see a healthy PJH not being in the starting XI as long as he continues with his consistently good performances.
Season goal: With military obligations gone and reduced absence with Asian Games/Cup now over with, Park Joo Ho just has to keep on doing what he's been doing to remain a very good LB in the Bundesliga.
Hong Jeong Ho - Augsburg - HJH appears to have parlayed his quality spring performances into a starting CH role for Augsburg. He continued it this summer with scoring a goal vs Bayern in preseason tourney and generally good performances. But his often-injred back remains suspect, with HJH requiring extra stretching in preseason matches. And also he continues to show the mental errors that have been the major weakness of his game. How much comes from miscommunication due to language or just mental lapses is unclear but in either case, they have to be sorted out if he wants to keep his spot.
Season goal: Stay healthy and improve the weaknesses in his game. Last season, he got stronger on the ground and in the air, and he has to translate that to becoming a weapon in set pieces on both ends. And reduce the quantity of mental lapses that are just inexcusable for a top tier CH.
Ji Dong Won - Augsburg- Ji looks relatively healthy again though his scoring touch really let him down in summer training. He looked good moving and getting into good spots, and he seems to have adapted to a CAM role in 4-1-4-1 well, even if I'd prefer him to stay as a center forward. In particular, CF remains a weak spot for Augsburg if Bobadilla is not lined up there and Altintop remains one of Weinzierl's preferred players who has been preferred over Ji so far.
But the season is long and the fixture list for Augsburg will be challenging with the additional burden of Europa League on a team with such limited resources. So Ji should get his chances and it will be up to him to find his confidence and show the player that he was in his original stint with Augsburg.
Season goal: Get on the pitch and perform, whether at CF or CAM. While goals may be an overrated stat, Ji needs to contribute more offensively and help offload some of the scoring burden off of Bobadilla.
Kim Jin Su - Hoffenheim - KJS has featured heavily in summer friendlies though he was notably an unused sub in the first cup match. Perhaps they're trying to ration his workload a bit more this season after struggling towards the tail end of the season. In what I saw in his friendlies, KJS looked a lot like the player he was last season, explosive in attack with plenty of imagination, and raw speed helping cover for suspect defensive positioning and decision making. With his competition Toljan hurt and Hoffenheim dropping out of the cup in an embarrassing loss, KJS will get a chance to start and hopefully re-assert himself as the top LB.
Season goal: Develop his defensive game and show that he can make the mental decisions to transform from just an exciting young player to top Bundesliga FB.
Others - Limited by either lack of viewing or attention by me. Sorry, only so many hours in the day.
Suk Hyun Jun - Vitoria Setubal - He had a bit of an injury but he's appears to be ready for the season, scoring a goal in last preseason friendly. Vitoria Setubal will be depending on him for goals, having sold off another forward, and certainly his performances can be lumpy depending on team performances as well. But given a bit more consistency, he could have a greater impact on his club and also potentially earn some appearances on the Korean NT which desperately could use a striker of quality.
Choi Kyoung Rok - St Pauli - He started St Pauli's cup match which would indicate a good opportunity to make an impact at the BL2 club. While normally a striker, he played out wide and did ok enough. He showed good strength and pace though like many young players, some unnecessary mistakes that hopefully go away with more experience. He should get plenty of opportunities to develop his game though he might not be a regular starter each week.
Park In Hyeok - FSV Frankfurt - Somewhat of a surprise buy by Hoffenheim, he got loaned out to Frankfurt with the goal of getting him used to higher level of football and German life/language. He's a winger and featured minimally so far though he did put in a cameo in the tail end of their first cup match. Should be interesting to see if he rises up or as many BL2 prospects have done, get lost in the shuffle.
Kim Young Kiu - Almeria B - Kiu looks to have taken some confidence from more minutes with Real Aviles (albeit inconsistent due to injury) and figures to have a greater impact on Almeria's B team. He started off strongly with a hat trick in a friendly and so he'll look to continue to grow with more playing time.
Moon Seon Min - Djurgardens - Moon started this past weekend and looks to establish himself as a regular at the top tier of Swedish football. I didn't get to watch his debut but he's done really well in reserve matches in preparation for first team action.
Jeong Chung Geun - Nantes CFA - Jeong has been starting regularly for Nantes' CFA side in preseason and has scored a goal in friendlies. Their season starts this weekend.
Kim Shin - Lyon CFA - He looks to have had a big hand in their preseason preparation so hopefully he stays healthy this year (vs last where he missed much of his first half-season) and start building the path to higher level football.
