South Korea's pro football league office said Monday that 74 players have found new clubs through this season's summer transfer window.
The K League, operator of domestic pro football competitions, said 74 players switched clubs or newly joined teams from overseas during the transfer period from June 29 to last Friday.
The league data showed 12 clubs in the top-flight K League Classic signed 27 players this summer, and 13 of them were foreigners. Gwangju FC brought in the league's first Northern Irishman, Niall McGinn from Aberdeen, while reigning league champions FC Seoul inked a deal with the league's first Iranian, Khaled Shafiei.
In the second-tier K League Challenge, 10 clubs newly acquired 47 players, but only nine of them were non-Koreans.
Excluding military club Sangju Sangmu and police team Asan Mugunghwa, where only conscripted South Korean players can join, Gyeongnam FC in the Challenge newly recruited six players this summer, most among all K League clubs, followed by fellow second-tier clubs Seongnam FC and Seoul E-Land with five apiece.
Among the Classic clubs, Pohang Steelers and Daegu FC led with four new signings each.
The data showed 16 players have switched their division, with 11 of them moving from the Classic to the Challenge.
The K League said there are now 413 players in the Classic and 353 in the Challenge. (Yonhap)
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This photo provided by Gwangju FC on July 9, 2017, shows Gwangju FC's new signing Niall McGinn (R) posing with South Korean footballer Ki Sung-yueng for a photo at Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju. (Yonhap) |
