Tottenham Hotspur touched down in Seoul, South Korea today (yesterday? time zones are a thing and time is a flat circle) as they continue their preseason tour to East Asia. And because there literally isn’t a better time to do it, Spurs also formally announced the signing of 18-year old Korean winger Yang Min-Hyeok from Gangwon FC!
Yang signs an initial five year deal that will keep him at Spurs through the end of the 2029-30 season, and will formally join the club in January, at the conclusion of the current K-League season. The official release on Tottenham’s website does NOT indicate a loan back to Gangwon, so I guess that means he remains a Gangwon player for now until the transfer officially goes through in January. There were reports that the transfer fee between Tottenham and Gangwon was €4m, which is both a pittance for what might be a top young international talent and also a lot of money for a club like Gangwon FC.
As some mentioned earlier, the lack of a loan is a bit weird, as it means that he may not be able to earn Spurs homegrown status when he turns 21. But maybe that’s okay? Spurs have a ton of homegrown players in the development squad coming through over the next few years, so it’s likely less of a concern that he’ll use up a foreign player slot than it might have been.
I can’t confirm or deny it, but you’d have to think Yang will be introduced to the Korean Spurs fans in attendance for the upcoming friendly against Harry Kane-less Bayern Munich. With Spurs literally in Korea, Son Heung-Min being a thing, and a new player from the K-League, the synergy is just too obvious not to do something like this.
Yang’s a young player with an enormous ceiling, but it would be a disservice to suggest that he’ll be an instant impact player when joins Tottenham in January. But he’ll now have time to adapt, improve, and be mentored by Sonny before eventually supplanting Son in the Tottenham squad as the best Korean footballer of all time. (Choose hope.)
Welcome to Tottenham, Yang Min-Hyeok!