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| Seen above is FC Seoul's official fansite. / Courtesy of FC Seoul |
FC Seoul has come under fire from the team's supporters for failing to sign former South Korea captain Ki Sung-yueng during this transfer season.
The K League's transfer window is open until Feb. 29, but it's unlikely that Ki will return to talks with FC Seoul considering their last meeting didn't end pleasantly, sources said.
Ki, who has played more than 100 international matches for his country, had declared his desire to return to the K League after he terminated his contract with Newcastle last month.
Sources said he was eager to join his old club FC Seoul even before he finished with Newcastle, but FC Seoul's position during the negotiations was contrary to what Ki expected.
"FC Seoul said at the end of talks it could offer him 800 million won ($672,000 for this year. However, the team's first offer was much less than that," said football columnist Kim Hwan. Jeonbuk Motors's fullback Kim Jin-su was the highest paid footballer in the K League last year at 1.43 billion won.
"Another issue here is FC Seoul's officials' comments during the negotiations with Ki. I understand they hurt Ki's feelings. It was pretty obvious money wasn't the issue regarding his return to his old club considering his 3.2 billion won salary with Newcastle. No K League team can pay that much. However, FC Seoul's attitude was the reason behind Ki changing his mind."
Ki, then, chose Jeonbuk Motors, last season's K League champion that would be able to offer Ki a fine stage, as another possible destination, but FC Seoul defeated this plan with the exclusive negotiation right it signed with Ki when he left FC Seoul to join Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Celtic in 2009.
Under the right, any other club in the K League that wants to sign Ki must pay FC Seoul 2.6 billion unless Ki returned to his old club.
Jeonbuk Motors immediately stepped back from the table after learning about this.
FC Seoul Director Kang Myong-won said the team never mentioned the right during the talks with Ki or insisted on it when Ki was talking with Jeonbuk Motors, but Ki indirectly rebutted Kang's claim in an Instagram post saying, "Hurt me with a lie and I can hurt you with the truth. You ain't gonna like when I play back."
There are rumors that Ki is now in talks with SD Huesca, a Spanish football club in the Segunda Division.
Football commentator Park Moon-sung also criticized FC Seoul's selfish attitude toward its former player.
"Football fans love the beautiful game not because their team always wins. A team's performance is an important feature, but fans are also here for their beloved players. A number of South Koreans still do not finish their career in K League. The league do not respect their football legends," Park said.
