Celtic have made an "official approach" to bring Gangwon midfielder Yang Hyun-Jun to the club this summer.
However, the club are determined to keep the 21-year-old at the club until the end of the K-League campaign while they are deep in a relegation scrap. Former Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou utilised the transfer market in Asia during his time in Glasgow's east end, with Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate all finding success in the Scottish Premiership.
Hyeon-gyu Oh, Yuki Kobayashi and Tomoki Iwata all arrived in January and Celtic are reportedly continuing the trend into Brendan Rodgers' second spell in Glasgow's east end with the Hyun-Jun on the Scottish Premiership champions’ radar. The playmaker enjoyed his breakthrough campaign last term as he netted eight goals for Gangwon as he helped this side to a top six finish – but with the club struggling near the foot of the K-League he has struggled to show his best form, netting just once during this campaign.
Yonhap News report that an "official proposal" has been received from Celtic. However, they are reluctant to let the player leave during the European summer transfer window.
The K-League strugglers state they are willing to agree to a fee but want the key player to leave in the winter window - which could open the door to a deal before immediately being loaned to Gangwon. Director Kim Tae-joo told N Sports: "It is true that Celtic has received a scouting offer for Yang Hyun-Jun. No, we will not transfer Yang Hyun-Jun this summer. I want to allow Celtic transfer to help the player develop. The transfer fee is not a big problem. However, the priority is to consider the current team situation.
"We also conveyed the position that we would release Yang Hyun-jun to the Celtic for six months and then send him to the winter, but Celtic is sticking to the position of wanting to recruit Yang Hyun-Jun this summer. The player also revealed to the club that he wanted to go to Europe."
READ NEXT
