Can South Korean striker Cho Kyu-sung (Meatwillan) follow in the footsteps of his teammate who dominated the Danish scene and made it to the Italian Serie A?
“What if there is a place for a Korean soccer player in the future of the ‘Griffin’ (Genoa’s nickname)?” the Italian media outlet Calcioline reported on March 15 (KST).
“As we know, everything is possible in football, and the arrival of a player in Genoa is probably almost unthinkable,” said the media outlet, which mainly covers Fiorentina, Bologna, and Genoa, teams from the city located between Milan, Turin, and central Rome in northern Italy.
“We are talking about striker Cho Kyu-sung, who recently made headlines by scoring a goal to defeat Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia.” Cho scored a header in the 32nd minute to give South Korea a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in an international friendly at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England, on March 13.
Cho’s goal gave Jürgen Klinsmann’s South Korean national team its first win in six matches since taking over as head coach.
Cho’s recent impressive performances for club side Mitwillan and the national team have sparked interest from Italian Serie A club Genoa. The 130-year-old club won promotion last season after finishing second in the Italian Serie B (second division). They will play in the top flight starting in the 2023/24 season.
After finishing 19th in the league in the 2021/22 season and returning to Serie A a year after being relegated to the second division, Genoa, whose top priority is to stay up, have expressed interest in Cho Kyu-sung, who has been performing well since their recent arrival in Europe.
“A central striker who can also play as a left or right winger, he would be interested in a ‘major’ competition and Genoa can offer him this opportunity,” the outlet said of Cho, explaining that the prospect of playing in one of Europe’s top professional leagues could be tempting.
“He has a long-term contract with Mitwillan that expires in June 2028, but at least for now, he is not worth more than €5 million (about $7.1 billion). Is it a possible deal, maybe,” he said, adding that it wouldn’t be out of the question for the right transfer fee.
There are three main reasons why Genoa would be interested in Cho Kyu-sung. The first is that he has proven himself to be a goal scorer since making his debut in the Danish top flight. 안전놀이터
He scored the first goal of the 2023/24 Danish Superliga away to Viborg in the eighth round at Viborg Stadium in Viborg, Denmark, in the seventh minute of the game with the score tied at 0-0. On the day, Mittwillan failed to protect Cho Kyu-sung’s opener and drew 2-2 in a hard-fought match, but it reaffirmed the Korean striker’s quality.
Cho, who became the first South Korean player to score two goals in a single World Cup match when he scored a header against Ghana at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, scored his first goal in Denmark with his head.
