Lee Cheon-su Joins Dutch Club Feyenoord

Lee Cheon-su, a 26-year-old striker at Ulsan Hyundai, joined Feyenoord, a Dutch football club.

Ulsan said yesterday, “We reached an agreement with Feyenoord about Lee’s transfer. The Dutch team offered two million euros for the four-year contract.”

After a medical check-up, Lee left for Holland that day, saying, “(The transfer was) abruptly decided. I feel good. I think I’m lucky. I’ll do my best not to disappoint my fans,” adding, “I’ll try to go to a big league after playing in Holland. Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo went to the Premier League after Holland.”

His unimpressive play at the Spanish club Real Sociedad that he joined in 2003 got him loaned to Numancia. Suffering an injury, he came back to Korea in 2005. But he put up a good performance in the Korean league, helping Ulsan win the league championship with seven goals and five assists in 14 matches. After proving himself by scoring a goal in Korea’s match with Togo in the 2006 German World Cup, he tried to transfer to an overseas club again. But he failed to sign a contract with English football clubs, including Portsmouth, Wigan Athletic and Fulham, because of differences over contract terms.

Lee originally turned down a loan offer from Feyenoord. But he changed his mind overnight after the club made a second offer, and decided to join the team. He declined the first offer because playing as a loan player puts him at a disadvantage in having opportunities to play in matches.

Feyenoord is a strong club in Holland along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. Korean football fans came to know the team after Song Jong-guk (Suwon Samsung) joined the club in 2002. Founded in 1908 in Rotterdam, the club has won 14 Dutch Championships.

Lee will become the seventh Korean playing in Holland. His predecessors include Heo Jung-moo, head coach for the Jeonnam Dragons who played for Eindhoven, and Park Ji-sung, who is now currently playing for Manchester United.

bluesky@donga.com