Celtic FC successful defended their Scottish Premiership title in 2023/24 season. The Scottish giants are now champions of Scotland for the 54th time. Their new manager Brendon Rodgers helped the club to win Scottish club along with league in his first season at charge. Before the beginning of 2024/25 season the club want to strengthen their squad. Along with new signings the club is partying ways with some of the existing stars. One of those who moved away from Celtic Park is South Korean international Hyeon Gyu Oh. Oh has joined Belgian Pro League club KRC Genk.
South Korean star joins KRC Genk
The Belgian club has announced the signing of Oh on the official KRC Genk website. The 23-year-old striker was monitored by the club for very long time. He has signed a four-year contract and is pleased to seal the deal. The South Korean international is hugely admired by Genk’s head of football.
“Hyeon-Gyu is a striker with a nose for goals who is not afraid to make dirty meters as well. He is a nimble player who also offers a solid presence in the box thanks to his stature” – Genk’s head of football Dimitri de Conde on the club’s latest signing.
In addition, Hyeon-Gyu is also very happy to join Genk. After signing the contract, he said that KRC Genk is a club which has a lot of experience in training young players. In addition, he said his choice to join Genk was immediately once he knew about their interest. To conclude, the 23-year-old said that he can’t wait to show himself and is ready to rock.
Why Hyeon-Gyu Oh had to leave Celtic
Hyeon Gyu began his professional career at Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 2019 before moving to Sangju Sangmu on loan which is a military club. He served his military services and moved back to Bluewings in 2022. Oh became the top scorer for Bluewings that season with 13 goals.
In January 2023, Ange Postecoglou who was Celtic manager at that time signed Hyeon Gyu. The fee was reported to be around £2.5 million. In addition, five-year contract was offered. Later Oh made his debut for Celtic on 29 January 2023 as a substitute for Kyogo Furuhashi. Only after some days, Hyeon-Gyu scored his first goal for the Scottish club. His impressive performances made him regular substitute for main striker Furuhashi.
However, in 2023/24 season Postecoglou left Celtic to join Premier League club Tottenham Hotspurs. He was replaced by Brendon Rodgers. Brendon Rodgers was not as impressed as Postecoglou with the 23-year-old striker. Eventually he started to drop Hyeon Gyu after Asian Cup. Later, after the arrival to Adam Idah on loan, Oh was unable to receive any game time.
As a result, Hyeon Gyu made a choice to join Genk as they were interested in him from long time. The 23-year-old striker would like to bounce back hard and showcase his skills. The South Korean striker will depart from Celtic after winning two Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and one League Cup in his one and half year spell at Scotland.
Hyeon Gyu’s time at Celtic
Hyeon Gyu Oh has been very good despite receiving very less gametime. The 23-year-old striker has scored 12 goals for Celtic, averaging a goal every 110 minutes. In 2022/23 season Hyeon Gyu scored 7 goals in 21 appearances. He was part of Celtic for only second half of the 2022/23 season. However, in 2023/24 season, he was often sidelined by Brendon Rodgers. The South Korean international played 26 matches and scored 5 goals. Out of those appearances, 20 came in Premiership where Oh only started 3 of them, limiting his playing minutes to 611. Oh made 5 UEFA Champions League appearances but didn’t start any of them which limited his playing minutes to only 100. Despite receiving very less game time, Oh has put on impressive performances and he will hope to achieve more game time he deserves at Genk.
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