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Cho Gue-sung of Korea’s national soccer team celebrates after knocking in a header for a goal during the team’s match against Ghana at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Nov. 28 (local time). (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

European soccer teams are increasingly showing interest in Cho Gue-sung, Korea’s newest emerging star player. Cho, who is currently aged 24 and plays for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, made history through his performance this week, marking the first time a Korean has ever scored more than once in a World Cup match. According to foreign media reports, both the Turkish Fenerbahçe and France’s Stade Rennais football clubs are showing active interest in recruiting Cho.

On Wednesday (local time), Turkish newspaper Takvim reported that “Fenerbahce is fighting a transfer battle with Stade Rennais,” adding that, “Fenerbahce, which was satisfied with the results [after recruiting] Kim Min-jae [currently playing for SSC Napoli], are contacting the Korean national team to recruit Cho Gue-sung.”

The article also stated that Stade Rennais, one of the French league teams, also wants Cho Gue-sung, noting the six goals in 18 matches he’d scored for the Korean national team. Stade Rennais and Fenerbahce have also been rivals in the Europa League (UEFA) this season, the article went on.

Kim Min-jae had been traded to Fenerbahce in August of last year and played in the Super League for one year before transferring to play for SSC Napoli in Italy this past summer. The trade fee was reportedly 20 million euros.

Cho Gue-sung of Korea’s national soccer team celebrates after knocking in a header for a goal during the team’s match against Ghana at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on Nov. 28 (local time). (Yonhap)

Italian media also mentioned the possibility of Cho making a debut in Europe. According to Italy’s Quotidiano Nazionale news site, “South Korea has discovered a new figure named Cho Gue-sung,” adding that “many Italian scouts who were in Qatar must have written his name down in their notebooks.”

The Italian newspaper continued, stating that “considering that Cho Gue-sung's worth is 1.4 million euros [about 1.9 billion won], many scouts will be preparing to bet on Cho Gue-sung, who has shown both good results and good fitness.”

“Cho Gue-song will be able to become a great successor to Son Heung-min through this World Cup,” the paper predicted.

Cho quickly emerged as a surprise star at the 2022 World Cup hosted by Qatar. In particular, during South Korea’s match with Ghana on Monday, Cho managed to score two header goals and greatly showed off his skills to the world.

Melting the hearts of soccer fans around the world, as of 5:00 pm on Wednesday, Cho’s Instagram followers on his personal account exceeded 1.6 million. Cho is currently preparing for the final Group H match between South Korea and Portugal scheduled to take place at midnight (Korea time) on Dec. 2.

By Park Go-eun, staff reporter

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