Yang Hyun-Jun has taken an extraordinary step in offering to help pay his own transfer fee in a push to join Celtic.
The South Korean winger is so desperate to sign for the Premiership champions he is willing to forego his Gangwon salary to make it happen. Yang has outright declared his desire to move to Glasgow now but sources in Korea suggest his relegation-threatened club are reluctant to facilitate a sale until they have secured K-League safety.
That would dictate the 21-year-old must wait until the winter transfer window to move but he is determined to get his way this summer. A reported fee of around £2million has been quoted for Yang, but Gangwon are hesitant to part with one of their top players in a time of struggle.
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A 1-0 defeat to Incheon on Sunday ensured they remain second bottom of the K-League, six points adrift of Suwon. But the club’s hardline stance has not deterred Yang from his mission to become a Celtic player immediately, and he’s willing to take extreme measures to make it happen.
“If the transfer fee isn’t enough, I’ll even give my own salary,” he pleaded after the game. “I want to go to Celtic this summer. I hope Gangwon will allow me to transfer.
“My father and agent have asked for a meeting for a several times, but CEO Kim Byung-Ji is not giving time. It is not an easy opportunity to get an offer in Europe.
“I really want to go out this time. My colleagues and seniors from other teams also tell me to go to Europe, I don’t think about staying in Gangwon right now.”
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Yang had an offer from Major League Soccer last summer but remained with Gangwon. This window, though, he claims the club had promised to ‘actively help’ him take up an opportunity in Europe.
"Europe is said to be easier to adapt to in the summer,” he said. “Of course, the team is in a difficult situation, but when an offer came from the United States last season, the goal was to go to Europe.
"So I didn't go to America and stayed with the team. Also, if an offer comes from Europe, the club said they would actively help.
"Celtic is a good offer, so I want to go. I have to do my best as a member of Gangwon. But I think the desire to go will still be there."
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