Wolves confirm Hwang Hee-chan to join the club permanently

By Sports Desk January 26, 2022

South Korea international Hwang Hee-chan will join Wolves permanently at the end of the season, the Premier League club has confirmed.

Hwang initially joined on a season-long loan from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and agreed personal terms on a deal before arriving in England.

Wolves have now activated a clause to make the move permanent from July for a fee reportedly in the region of £12million.

The deal will run to 2026 and was confirmed by the club's website on the player's 26th birthday.

The former Salzburg forward made an impactful start at Wolves, scoring four goals in his first six Premier League games, including his first strike just 20 minutes into his debut after coming off the bench in the 2-0 win at Watford in September.

He has failed to find the net since scoring the opener in the 1-1 draw at Leeds United in October, however, and has not played since sustaining a hamstring injury in the 1-0 win at Brighton last month.

 

Hwang first came to prominence at Salzburg during the 2019-20 season, playing in an attack that included Erling Haaland, Takumi Minamino and Patson Daka, before signing for RB Leipzig for around €9m in 2020.

However, he only managed three goals and four assists in 29 appearances across all competitions for Die Roten Bullen – albeit only five of those were starts.

Wolves technical director, Scott Sellars, was delighted to confirm the news and told the club's website: "He's had a really positive affect on not only the team, but also the whole football club, and he's been a fantastic addition to Wolves.

"We could see straight from our first meeting with him that Hee-chan is such a focused and determined young man who wants to be successful in his football career.

"He's not had the experiences he would have liked at Leipzig and he wanted a change, and he's grabbed his opportunity here in the Premier League with both hands. He's shown a lot of determination, a lot of focus and certainly a lot of professionalism every day, and he's got his rewards in terms of his performances and his goals."

Related items

  • Bellingham: Champions League triumph 'the best night of my life' Bellingham: Champions League triumph 'the best night of my life'

    Jude Bellingham described becoming a Champions League winner as the best night of his life after helping Real Madrid down his former club Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium. 

    Madrid clinched a record-extending 15th European crown on Saturday, claiming a hard-fought 2-0 win over Dortmund, who spurned several clear opportunities in the first half.

    Dani Carvajal headed in Toni Kroos' corner for the 74th-minute breakthrough, before an Ian Maatsen error allowed Bellingham to slip in Vinicius Junior for a late second.

    At the age of 20 years and 338 days, Bellingham became the third-youngest player to start a Champions League final for Madrid, after Iker Casillas in 2000 (19 years, four days) and Raul in 1998 (20 years, 327 days). 

    He also became the third-youngest English player to do so with any team after Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2018 (19 years, 231 days) and Owen Hargreaves in 2001 (20 years, 123 days).

    Speaking to TNT Sports immediately after the full-time whistle, Bellingham was lost for words to describe the feeling of becoming a European champion.

    "I've always dreamed of playing in these games," he said. "You go through life and there are so many people saying you can't do things and days like today remind you why you do it.

    "When it gets hard at times you start to wonder if it's all worth it. Nights like tonight make it all worth it.

    "I was okay until I saw my Mum and Dad's faces. The nights they could have been home at seven o'clock but they were still out at eleven or twelve taking me to football. 

    "My little brother there who I am trying to be a role model for too... it's hard to put it into words. It's the best night of my life."

  • Ancelotti: Real Madrid's 15th European title was harder than expected Ancelotti: Real Madrid's 15th European title was harder than expected

    Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti felt winning the European Cup for a record-extending 15th time on Saturday had been much more difficult than expected for the Spanish champions.

    Los Blancos needed two late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior to beat Germany's Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final at Wembley.

    "I never get used to it, because it was difficult, very difficult, more than expected," Ancelotti told Movistar Plus+.

    "In the first half we were a bit lazy, we had losses and they [Dortmund] were able to play how they wanted, but in the second half we were better and more balanced, with fewer losses.

    "This is a dream that continues. I don't know what is going to happen tonight, but we are not going to sleep!"

    Ancelotti added to TNT Sports: "It seems a dream but it is reality. Really happy for sure. A final is always like this [with good and bad parts of the game].

    "We were able to win, it was a fantastic season and we are really happy to be able to win the cup again."

    Asked how Madrid are able to keep winning the Champions League, he replied: "It is the history and tradition of the club and of course the quality of the players.

    "The club is a family, we work all together without problems and the atmosphere is really good in the dressing room.

    "I need to thank the club and the players, no big egos, really humble, it was not difficult to manage the squad this season."

    Carvajal also acknowledged Madrid had been fortunate to escape from a first half where Dortmund squandered a host of good goalscoring opportunities.

    "After the first half we had, we didn't even deserve to go the changing room with a level score, but this is football and we are very, very happy," said defender Carvajal, who scored the first goal by heading in Toni Kroos’ corner.

    For Dortmund, it was another Champions League final loss at Wembley, which also hosted their 2013 defeat by domestic rivals Bayern Munich.

    "At the moment we are bitterly disappointed," said Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel. "Against Real you don’t get too many chances and they always become dangerous.

    "We had our chances and should have done a bit more.

    "We are still disappointed, but 100% it was a huge success to come here and play this game, so we are very proud."

  • Reus' Dortmund send-off ends in heartbreaking Champions League defeat Reus' Dortmund send-off ends in heartbreaking Champions League defeat

    Borussia Dortmund's hopes of sending Marco Reus off with a Champions League title ended in heartbreak as they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid on Saturday.

    After 12 years with his boyhood club, Reus announced the Wembley showpiece would be his final match for Dortmund.

    But despite a dominant first-half performance, they could not beat the serial winners, who scored two late goals through Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior to win their 15th European crown.

    Edin Terzic’s side were given just a 21.4 per cent chance of victory by the Opta supercomputer before kick-off, but they came out of the blocks quickly with the aim of flipping the script.

    Dortmund’s expected goals (xG) figure of 1.68 in the opening period was the largest by a team in the first half of a Champions League final on record (since 2013-14), and was also the highest by an opponent against Madrid in the first half this term.

    Their two big chances fell to Niclas Fullkrug and Karim Adeyemi, the former striking the post and the latter forcing a good save out of Thibaut Courtois, having earlier wasted a one-on-one chance with the Belgian goalkeeper.

    The German team were solid in defence too, forcing Madrid into half-time without having a single shot on target – the first time that has happened to any team in a Champions League final since Tottenham versus Liverpool in 2019.

    Julian Brandt looked to be key for the Black and Yellow, creating four chances, the most in a Champions League final since Luka Modric against Atletico Madrid in 2015-16 (seven), though that tally would be equalled by Toni Kroos in the second half.

    Reus was brought on for his 424th and final BVB appearance in the 72nd minute, hoping to sign off in the perfect way, but it was another departing German that soon caught the eye.

    Kroos, playing for Madrid for the last time ahead of his retirement, set up Carvajal for Madrid’s opener just two minutes later.

    Gregor Kobel saved 46 of the 56 shots on target he faced this season in the competition, and he made three big stops to keep Dortmund in the contest at 1-0.

    However, an Ian Maatsen mistake led to Madrid’s second, with Dortmund conceding in the final 15 minutes of a Champions League game for the first time this campaign as Jude Bellingham slipped in Vinicius to convert.

    Dortmund have now only won one of their last five finals in major European competitions (3-1 versus Juventus in the 1997 Champions League), losing each of their last three in a row (against Feyenoord in 2002, Bayern Munich in 2013 and Madrid in 2024).

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.