Cho Gue-sung of South Korea (Left) takes a shot against El Salvador during the teams' friendly football match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on Tuesday. (Yonhap)
After basking in unexpected stardom on the heels of his breakout performance at the FIFA World Cup last fall, South Korean striker Cho Gue-sung fielded offers from European clubs for the winter transfer window.
Cho ultimately stayed put with his domestic club, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. He wrapped up his first scoring title in the K League 1 in 2022, further cementing his status as the next big thing coming out of South Korea.
By foregoing a chance to move to Europe while the iron was hot, Cho was essentially betting on himself -- that he could increase his value until the summer transfer period or at least maintain the same level.
The results have been mixed so far this year. The 25-year-old does have four goals in nine matches, but he missed nine matches between March and May with a calf injury.
Now, Cho is really itching to take his talent elsewhere.
"I desperately want to move overseas, but with regards to transfer fees and other details, I'll have to talk to my club," Cho told reporters Tuesday after South Korea's 1-1 draw against El Salvador in a friendly in the central city of Daejeon. "I will carefully pick a team where I will be able to play consistently."
It remains to be seen if Cho will once again attract interest from European teams this summer. He was recently linked to second-tier English club Watford.
Cho's performance with the national team this month couldn't have helped, though. He came off the bench in South Korea's 1-0 loss to Peru on Friday and missed out on a few dangerous chances set up by midfielder Lee Kang-in. The same Lee-Cho combo connected for two header goals against Ghana at the World Cup in Qatar. Though South Korea lost that match 3-2, Cho became the first South Korean to score multiple goals in a World Cup match then.
Against El Salvador on Tuesday, Cho got the start ahead of Oh Hyeon-gyu of Celtic. Once again, Cho wasted a number of opportunities from close range, missing the target left and right, and high and low.
"I think I am right there. I am really close," Cho said. "I have to bear down and concentrate even harder."
Cho said national team captain Son Heung-min, the 2021-2022 Premier League Golden Boot winner for Tottenham Hotspur, stressed the importance of laser-sharp focus for strikers.
"I will work on that aspect in training," Cho said. "It's something I have to be better at."
Cho said he appreciated Lee's effort to try to set him up for goals.
"I love having him around. Whenever he has the ball, I pay close attention," Cho said. "I have to be even better where my focus is concerned." (Yonhap)
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