Suwon Samsung Bluewings forward Oh Hyeon-Gyu becomes the third South Korean international player to have joined Celtic..

2023-01-26 10:34

Suwon Samsung Bluewings forward Oh Hyeon-Gyu becomes the third South Korean international player to have joined Celtic..




Celtic announced on their official website on Wednesday that the club has signed Korean international forward Oh Hyeon-Gyu from Suwon Samsung Bluewings.


According to the official statement of Celtic, Oh Hyeon-Gyu has signed a long-term five-and-a-half-year-deal with the club which will run until the summer of 2028. At the same time, he will also wear the No. 19 jersey which was also worn by former legendary Bulgaria international midfielder Stiliyan Petrov when he played for the club.


After completing his joining procedures, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, who was interviewed by the Celtic official website for the first time said: "I am very happy to join and play for such a big club. It is like a dream come true to be here."


"I feel like a top K-pop idol. Everything here, including the city, environment, and facilities, looks like a scene that would appear on a big scale international movie set. I am very excited about this and look forward to every moment while being here in the future."


"This is a moment I've been waiting for a long time and I've always dreamed of getting the chance to play in Europe one day. I'm looking forward to getting out on the pitch and meeting the fans, as well as giving my best to this great club by scoring as many goals as possible."


Oh Hyeon-Gyu, who is only 21 years old, was born on April 12, 2001 in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. He is 1.85 meters tall, primarily plays as a winger, but can also be deployed as a "False 9", an auxilary center forward or as an attacking midfielder.


Oh Hyeon-Gyu was already a member of the school team when he was studying at Maetan Secondary School in Suwon City. Later, he was selected for the South Korean U17 national team and got the opportunity to join the Suwon Samsung Bluewings youth academy.


After graduating from secondary school, Oh Hyeon-Gyu became an official member of Suwon Samsung Bluewings, and completed his first-team debut in April 2019, also winning the Korean FA Cup in the same year.


From May 2020 to November 2021, Oh Hyeon-Gyu temporarily joined Gimcheon Sangmu as he enlisted for military service and won the K-League 2 championship with the club.


After returning to Suwon Samsung Bluewings last season, Oh Hyeon-Gyu played a total of 39 times across all competitions for the traditional K-League 1 powerhouse, scoring 14 goals and assisting 2 times. He also made his debut for the South Korean senior national team during in a friendly match in November 2022.


It is worth mentioning that Oh Hyeon-Gyu is the third Korean international player signed by the Scottish Premiership defending champions. In recent years, the Bhoys, which has become the "No. 1 go-to club in Europe" for Asian players, has also signed Cha Du-ri and Ki Seung-yeung previously. In addition to the above three, Celtic were also revealed to be planning to sign Cho Gue-sung, who became extremely popular during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.