‘Summers Most Wanted’ – Lee Chung-Yong

Chung-Yong Lee or is it Lee Chung-Yong? I don’t know. I miss the days when players were called Alan Smith, Steve Bruce or Pat Van Den Hauwe…

Anyway I’m being sidetracked. Rumour has it that Liverpool after considering making an £8m bid for Bolton Wanderer’s South-Korean midfielder, Chung-Yong Lee. The South Korean has been linked with Liverpool in the South-Korean press, with the Merseysiders said to be keen to exploit the commercial potential of signing a player set to represent South-Korea in the World Cup this summer.

The 21 year old midfielder has scored five goals in 21 games in his debut season for Bolton, and the Premier League vultures have been circling accordingly. Chung-Song, or ‘Blue-Dragon’ as his South-Korean teammates call him, joined Bolton in the summer of 2009 from FC Seoul for £2.2m. Before joining the Lancashire outfit, Lee Chung-Yong was named as one of the top 50 rising stars in football by The Times. Chung-Yong was described as:

‘South Korea’s top young talent and a member of the national team. A move to Europe has been mooted.’

Chung-Yong was a young super-star in South-Korea, but his signing still represented a gamble for Bolton. However, despite his age, and Chung-Yong’s playing in a relatively unknown league, Gary Megson took a risk on the boy, and it has paid off. Chung-Yong’s movement off the ball to create space for others is intelligent, and his energy levels are reminiscent of his countryman Park Ji-Sung. Further, despite this being his debut season, he has featured prominently for Bolton, and showed an aptitude for scoring goals from midfield in what is a struggling Bolton outfit.

A move to Anfield has however been rubbished by the player’s representatives TI Sports however, who believe another season playing Premier League football for Bolton would be better for his progression:

“I never received the offer from Liverpool, there was absolutely no contact. Speculation about the future is not helpful.

“[The link is] in a word, absurd. Liverpool did not have any discussion.

“Next season will be a lot easier [for Chung-Yong], but there is still much to learn in terms of player development.

“Lee wants to be a regular at Bolton next season, this is important [for him]. It is important that Bolton stay in the Premier League, that is the biggest objective.”

Whilst the interest in Chung-Yong Lee is said to be a fabrication originating for South Korea, the move could make sense for Liverpool. The player is young, and would not at present cost a fortune. However, Chung-Yong has great potential, and as he can play wide on the right of midfield, would give Rafael Benitez better attacking options and quality, given that Dirk Kuyt has had a largely disappointing season with the Reds. Furthermore, the reported £8m price tag, some are speculating, would be met by Liverpool after the sale Albert Riera. Benitez and Liverpool are hopeful that they will have offloaded the outspoken Spanish international before the Russian transfer window closes on Thursday night.

The young South-Korean has been a big hit in Lancashire this season, but if he has a strong finish to the Premier League season, and stars for his country in the World Cup in June, Bolton might have a job keeping hold of their young midfielder.

Here’s a short video of the South-Koran in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7clqawK1b-0&feature=player_embedded

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