Summer Transfer Window (1)
The joy of their long-dreamed AFC Champions League triumph had barely had time to settle before the Jeonbuk front office, the moment they set foot back in Korea, was already gearing up for the summer transfer window.
Unlike the winter window, where key players moved and upheaval made for entertaining viewing, the summer market tended to unfold a little more quietly.
But for Jeonbuk, caught in the middle of a rebuilding transition, there were more than a few assets that needed handling this window. They had to pour every bit as much care into it as they ever did in winter.
Filling the spots that needed filling, persuading players who needed to leave that a move elsewhere was in their interest — sleepless nights had become the daily routine.
The front-office staff were already busy enough working the phones for the transfer window. Unfortunately for them, news that might as well have been a nuclear bomb started dropping.
"So, to sum it up — there are clubs showing interest in Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan?"
"Yes. Word is other players are drawing interest as well, but the only ones who have formally expressed intent are Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan."
"Those two?"
Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan. For Jeonbuk they were purebred youth products, the absolute core of the team — and there were clubs gunning for both of them.
The director stared at his staffer, unable to believe it…
"For the record, that doesn't include domestic clubs. This is Europe. Belgium, Serbia, Scotland, Turkey — and we've confirmed German clubs plan to make contact as well."
"Shit. The Bundesliga too?"
At the staffer's next words, the director could only hang his head.
Honestly, he'd seen something like this coming.
How could he not? The potential Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan had shown since debuting was absurd.
Stats and match performance barely needed mentioning — just look at the awards they'd racked up in the K-League.
Player of the Month. Young Player of the Month. The two of them had been sweeping the most prestigious individual honors the K-League had to offer like it was a one-sided thrashing.
And on top of that, Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan have both been called up to the national team at such a young age and are already playing as key members. On the big stage their form didn't drop at all — if anything, it went nuclear.
The overseas scouts had probably rated that highly.
They'd been burned countless times by rookies who froze on the big stage, so from then on they were meticulous about their evaluations before making contact.
Damn it. I should have clocked it the moment I saw Sporting and West Ham scouts hanging around right after the season kicked off.
Why hadn't he shut it down then?
For a moment the director tried to flog himself over the past. But he stopped soon enough. Blocking them wouldn't have changed a thing.
Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan already signed with an overseas agent ages ago. Meaning their hunger for a move abroad is significant.
Even if they'd barred the scouts from the stadium, the more those two shone in the league, the more people would watch Jeonbuk's matches. You couldn't smother the glow of a raw gem no matter how hard you tried to cover it.
We can't stop the transfers anyway. I already knew that. Their contracts still have time left, but—
Both of them already had buyout clauses, and if word got out that the club was absolutely refusing to let them go, things could spiral out of control.
There was the time they'd blocked former Jeonbuk player Jo Gyun-seong's overseas move instead of letting it happen on good terms and gotten absolutely roasted by the entire nation for it.
He had no intention of repeating that mistake.
The director's resolve was firm, so for now he had to think about the best possible outcome.
"Just this season…"
"Sir? What do you mean by that?"
"Let's do everything we can to keep them until this season is over. If a good club comes in during the winter window, we send them then."
"I-is that even possible? If the other side pays the buyout, there's nothing we can do."
"I know that. But if they realize they can go to an even better club, wouldn't that change their minds?"
A better club?
The offers coming in already weren't light. What was he talking about?
"C-could you explain in more detail?"
"Honestly, I have no confidence we can hold onto Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan. They got an agent with an overseas move in mind, so if a good offer comes they'll lean toward leaving. But are the clubs that have come in so far really going to sit right with them?"
Belgium, Serbia, Scotland, Turkey.
Good places, sure. Serbia he wasn't as sure about, but the rest were far more plugged into the global football trends than the Asian periphery.
If these had been ordinary players, a proposal from any of them might have them bouncing off the walls pushing for a move.
But Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan weren't ordinary players, were they?
Even digging through K-League history, you had to wonder if anyone with this much talent had ever come through as rookies.
They were practically on the level of Yang Min-hyeong, who'd locked in a Tottenham move the summer after debuting as a semi-pro.
If a true big club had come in for Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan, the director might have considered loaning them out for the rest of this season and sending them next year.
I'm not really in a position to evaluate them, but honestly, the level of the clubs that have offered so far is absurdly low relative to what Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan are worth as players.
Their form in the pro league was excellent, and both of them were ruthlessly objective about themselves. They knew exactly where they stood.
So would they be satisfied with the offers on the table?
No. Looking at it objectively, only something like the Bundesliga offer would even be worth considering.
And even that was a lower-table side — but a big league was still a big league.
In other words, of the proposals currently in, only one team could actually move these two rookies' hearts.
The director decided to play that angle.
"We've already won the ACL. The league is basically locked for the upper split, and most experts are tipping us for the title. Even the Korea Cup draw is manageable if we get past the quarterfinals."
"So you're going for the treble. If we pull off a treble, the class of clubs that will come in for those two in the winter window will be on a completely different level from now."
"Exactly. The clubs thinking of making offers right now are great stepping stones, but if they've got ambition, wouldn't they grind hard for the little time left and aim higher?"
At least the Baek Yi-an and Yoon Seung-hwan the director had watched were that kind of people. He decided to trust his eye.
The day after a meal with the family, I headed straight to the clubhouse and arranged to meet the manager first thing.
It wasn't because of the recruitment offers Oliver had mentioned — meeting with the manager for a talk had already been on the schedule.
There'd been a lot of national-team back-and-forth lately, but normally rookies sat down with the gaffer two or three times a month.
"You're here. Good of you to come. Grab this first and drink while we talk."
"Aigoo, what's this now?"
"Quit fussing. It's nothing special, just drink it."
With an easy laugh, the manager sat down and immediately pushed the paper cup in his hand toward me.
A beige drink inside the cup. Probably misutgaru again, same as before.
"Slurp!"
I knocked it back without a second thought — and a rich, nutty flavor hit me, followed by a surprising sweetness.
Something felt a little thin in the middle. Definitely mixed with water, not milk.
Why was it so sweet, though?
The stuff I had before wasn't like this…
Back then, the manager's mother's misutgaru — the batch that had nearly done a number on me — had been plenty nutty, but as a health food it had been missing a screw when it came to sweetness.
This batch had the sweet and the nutty balanced just right.
This was definitely store-bought.
My palate, which had once dreamed of becoming a misutgaru sommelier back in kindergarten, was telling me so.
Certain of it, I looked at the manager.
"Mm. This time it's definitely from the mart—"
"That was my mother—"
"—and it doesn't even compare to the store-bought stuff. You can really taste the grains properly. Whew."
Sensing a major disaster about to unfold, I flipped my attitude mid-sentence like a two-faced tactic.
Wait, had she actually gone to the mill and made this herself? Misutgaru wasn't expensive these days. She could've just bought it.
Still, I couldn't exactly talk smack about the manager's mother.
"Your mother must really care about you, sir. Going all the way to the mill to make this as a breakfast substitute for her son… and I'm drinking something this precious…"
"Huh? My mom bought that at the mart."
"Ah."
If that was the case, why not just say so from the start instead of dragging it out like that?
I squeezed my eyes shut at the dizzying turn, and the manager's voice came through along with a stifled snicker.
"Ahaha. More importantly, Yi-an. You know why I called you, right?"
"A counseling session, isn't it? Rookies do this every month, don't they?"
"That's true, but honestly the reason we do it is to check whether you're settling in properly — and that doesn't apply to you or Seung-hwan."
Fair enough. Kids from fullback pedigrees might need the gaffer's counseling, but Yoon Seung-hwan, who was pure self-confidence packed solid, and me, whose maturity was off the charts, didn't particularly need it.
I'd been feeling a little put out that no one seemed to appreciate my serious attitude, but of course the manager knew me well.
"So this is about the summer transfer window?"
"Yeah. You heard from your agent, right? That a lot of teams want you."
"Yes. But I don't know the details. I don't even know which teams sent offers."
"Belgium and Scotland… Turkey too. And more besides."
That many?
I'd done a fair amount, and Oliver had been so over-the-top about it that I'd figured a few decent clubs were looking to make contact — but apparently even more teams were showing interest than I'd expected.
More than that… what did it mean that he was telling me this?
"If there's something you want to say, please just say it straight."
"Yeah? Works for me. I'll be blunt. Honestly, among the offers that have come in so far, I don't think there are many clubs that would really sit well with you. Galatasaray and Augsburg maybe — but both of them already have players in your position, so you'd have to compete."
"Hmm…"
"Of course, the way I see it, a few training sessions and matches and you'd take the starting spot no problem. But Yi-an. Think about it for a second."
With that, the manager leaned in.
Why was he shoving his face so close? It was intense.
What was he about to say…
"Think about what?"
"Yeah. If you transfer now, you have to compete at that club, right? But if you stay here and complete the treble? The class of clubs that will send you offers in the winter window will jump up a whole level. Leaving for Europe right away in the summer window just because of short-term greed… I think that'd be a little wasteful."
It could look like he was straining to keep me.
But the manager's words were definitely reasonable. The clubs that had put in offers right now probably only saw me as an Asian prospect.
If I became a key figure in a treble, I'd be transferring not as a prospect but as a player who could actually perform.
Someone might say, how good of a club is really going to come in just because you won a treble in Asia? But even in my past life, I'd completed a treble and moved to Juventus.
I knew that better than anyone.
Which meant I also understood exactly what the manager's proposal meant.
"Just this season… lock in the treble this season and then transfer. I'll give you every bit of help I can when you leave. You know I managed in Spain, right? These days a lot of managers have been contacting me about you."
At Manager Ki-baek's earnest, drawn-out plea, I cracked a smile.