Suwon Samsung, relegated to the second division of professional soccer, accelerates the departure of key players

Following Kwon Chang-hoon, Kim Tae-hwan and An Byeong-jun left the team.

Suwon Samsung of the K-League 2 (Second Division) of professional soccer is experiencing a power leak due to the departure of key players after the shock of being relegated to the second division for the first time since its founding.

Suwon, a prestigious club that won the K-League title four times, ranked 12th, the lowest in K-League 1 (Division 1) last year and was automatically relegated to Division 2. They tried to escape 12th place until the end of the league, but in the end, relegation was confirmed and they had to bow their heads and apologize to their home fans.

Suwon, founded in 1995 and playing in the K-League since 1996, is playing in the second division for the first time since the promotion and relegation system was introduced. Suwon has won the K-League four times (1998, 1999, 2004, 2008) and the Korea Football Association (FA) Cup five times (2002, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2019). Although it is a prestigious club, it is suffering the humiliation of being relegated to the second division.

As the team fell to the second division, the departure of players began in earnest.

It was a shock that Kwon Chang-hoon, the team's iconic player, transferred to Jeonbuk Hyundai, a first-division team and rivalry with Suwon. Kwon Chang-hoon was a representative player for Suwon in the early and mid-2010s. Born in Suwon Maetan High School, he played in Suwon for four years from 2013 to 2016, playing 109 games, scoring 22 goals and 9 assists (18 goals and 7 assists in 90 K-League games, 1 goal and 2 assists in 6 FA Cup games, and Asian Football Confederation Champions League). Scored 3 goals in 13 games. He set monumental records, including being the first member of Suwon Youth to be selected for the national team and the first member of Suwon Youth to advance to Europe.

Kwon Chang-hoon, who was discharged from the Gimcheon Sangmu, a professional soccer team of the Armed Forces Athletic Corps in June last year, was expected to help Suwon, which was struggling, escape from the relegation zone, but was unable to play due to an injury and eventually left the team.

Like Kwon Chang-hoon, Kim Tae-hwan, who was from Suwon Youth, also left for Jeju United, a first-division team. Kim Tae-hwan is a promising player who has been attracting attention since his days at Suwon Samsung Youth (Maetan Middle School, Maetan High School). In 2018, he wore the captain's armband for Maetan High School (Suwon U-18) and signed a semi-professional contract with Suwon, and entered the K-League 1 stage as a rookie player in 2019. Kim Tae-hwan played a key role until last year, scoring 2 goals and 8 assists in 109 appearances in K League 1.

Central midfield commander Ko Seung-beom is also close to being transferred. With his fighting spirit and high activity level, he made his professional debut at Suwon Samsung in 2016 and is a key player for Suwon, scoring 11 goals and 14 assists in 169 K-League games. It is known that Ko Seung-beom is likely to transfer to Ulsan HD, the winner of last year's K-League 1.

Starting frontline striker An Byeong-jun also chose to transfer. He won three awards (Best Player Award, Top Scorer, Best 11) for two consecutive years in the second division in 2020 and 2021, and joined Suwon in 2022. He scored 8 goals in 20 games that year, but fell short of expectations with 5 goals in 29 games last year. This time, we left for our second division team, Busan I-Park.

In addition to these players, defender Ko Myung-seok left for Daegu FC in the first division, midfielder Seok-jong Han went to Seongnam FC in the second division, and Brazilian foreign striker Bassani left for Bucheon FC in the second division.

With a serious power leak, the key question is whether Suwon can reinforce itself enough to aim for promotion to the first division.

Suwon appointed general manager Park Gyeong-hoon and coach Yeom Ki-hoon and formed a coaching staff. This season, Yang Hyung-mo was appointed as captain, and Lee Jong-seong, Kazuki, and Park Dae-won were appointed as vice captains. Attention is focused on whether Suwon can overcome the crisis and challenge for promotion to the first division. 19가이드03