One year later to Nottingham… Olympiacos, “Welcome!” in Korean welcome
The first Europa League qualifying round… Hwang In-beom and Hwang Ui-jo vs Jung Woo-young
National team striker Hwang Ui-jo (30) moved to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League (EPL) after ending his life in France.
Hwang Ui-jo immediately joined Olympiacos FC, a prestigious Greek club, on loan and had a meal with the national team’s ‘engine’ In-beom Hwang (26).
On the 26th (Korean time), Nottingham announced on their official Twitter that they had signed Hwang Ui-jo and that he will play on loan at Olympiacos for the 2022-2023 season.
Olympiacos also announced the signing of Hwang Ui-jo on loan through Twitter.
The club wrote in Korean: “Welcome to Olympiacos Hwang Ui-jo!”
At the end of the loan period, Hwang Ui-jo will return to Nottingham to play in the English Premier League.
Previously, Requiffe, a powerful French sports media outlet, said that Nottingham signed a three-year contract with Hwang Ui-jo, and paid 4 million euros (about 5.3 billion won) to Bordeaux (France) before paying 1 million euros (about 1.3 billion won). It was reported that an additional payment was made as an option.
For Hwang Ui-jo, who is known to have wanted to play the EPL stage with national team ‘three-top’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), this transfer is ‘one step back’ for ‘two steps forward’.
Hwang Ui-jo, who transferred from Gamba Osaka (Japan) to Bordeaux in French Ligue 1 in 2019, has proven his worth by scoring double-digit goals for two consecutive seasons.
However, since last June, when the team’s relegation from League 2 (Part 2) was confirmed, he has expressed his intention to transfer.
Throughout this summer, Nantes and Marseille of France’s Ligue 1 have consistently received interest, but recently, rumors of a transfer to EPL clubs including Wolverhampton Wanderers have surfaced.
Hwang’s side also favored Wolverhampton, but the offer of Wolverhampton, who promised only 4 million euros without an option, was not accepted at Bordeaux Castle.
Nottingham offered a higher sum to Bordeaux.
However, Nottingham and the owner wanted Hwang Ui-jo to jump first on a one-year loan at the same Olympiacos.
As Ui-Jo Hwang, who played in Ligue 1 of France, one of the five major leagues, going to Olympiacos is virtually a ‘one step back’.
Moreover, entry into the EPL after one year is not guaranteed to be ‘100%’.
Nottingham is a team that has just been promoted from the Championship (Second Division) to the EPL.
It’s not uncommon for a promoted team to be relegated straight away in a highly competitive EPL arena.
In this case, Hwang Ui-jo could be in a situation where he would have to find a new team again.
Still, the fact that midfielder Hwang In-beom, who has performed well together in various national teams, will play together at Olympiacos will give Hwang Ui-jo strength.
In particular, the two have a good memory of collaborating for a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.
Olympiacos was unable to participate in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), but defeated Apollo Limassol (Cyprus) in the Europa League (UEL) qualifier play-off to secure a ticket to the finals.
With this, Hwang Ui-jo and Hwang In-beom will step on the stage for the first time in his life at Olympiacos, including the UEL and European competitions.
As a result of the final draw, the Olympiacos team Freiburg (Germany) belonging to Jung Woo-young (23) was organized in Group G, and the match between the Korean national team can be seen in the group stage.
/yunhap news