Oh Hyeon-gyu was dubbed South Korea's "most important player" by captain Son Heung-min - after selflessly giving up his place in Qatar to the Tottenham superstar. But he's denied claims his international skipper paid him £105,000 out of his own pocket as compensation.
Oh looks set to sign for Celtic in a £2.5m deal this week amid reports that a deal has been agreed with Suwon Bluewings and a medical is underway. The 21-year-old was initially named in the South Korea squad for the World Cup, but one player had to be cut if Spurs star Son - who made a late recovery from a fractured eye socket - was to be swapped in.
Hyeon-gyu gave up his spot for his captain and Son personally thanked him, hailing him as his country's "most important player" for giving up the chance to play at the World Cup. But Oh has denied media claims that Son gave up his £105,000 World Cup bonus as compensation. He said: "Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to Son Heung-min for the kind words he said about me during the World Cup. They meant a lot to me.
"I read the stories about him giving me his bonus at his own expense. It's true that he took good care of me, but he certainly never personally give me any money. All the stories were lies."
Oh travelled to Qatar and trained with the squad anyway and was involved in the celebrations as they made the knockout stage before being thumped by Brazil. Son personally praised him when he stated: "I am only at the World Cup because Oh sacrificed his place in the squad for me.
"What I want to say to him is thank you so much. Even though he is a young player, he decided to try and help the team. Although he wasn't in the final roster, he was the most important player in the squad in my eyes."
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