Leeds United have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Hwang Hee-chan to Elland Road this summer.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to Alan Nixon, who revealed in a recent post on Twitter that, following a number of reports linking Jesse Marsch with a move for the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward in the coming days, Bruno Lage will part with the 26-year-old for the right price prior to Thursday’s transfer deadline – with previous reports suggesting that the South Korean’s asking price will be around the £25m mark.
In response to a supporter asking whether Wolves’ recent €18m (£15.4m) signing of Sasa Kalajdzic could see Hwang secure a move away from Molineux, The Sun journalist replied: “Lad can go at right price.”
This comes as something of a twist in the Whites’ pursuit of the winger, as Lage had previously suggested that he is desperate to keep hold of the former RB Leipzig attacker beyond the closure of the summer transfer window.
A boost for Marsch
Considering just how much success Marsch enjoyed with Hwang at Red Bull Salzburg – with the duo securing a league and cup double in 2019/20 – Nixon’s claim that Wolves would be willing to part with the forward this summer is likely to have come as a great boost to the 48-year-old manager.
Indeed, in Salzburg’s aforementioned victorious Austrian Bundesliga campaign, the £14.4m-rated Hwang was in sensational form for Marsch’s side over his 27 appearances, scoring 11 goals, registering 13 assists and creating 15 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.7 shots, making 1.6 key passes and completing 1.2 dribbles per game.
These metrics saw the £19k-per-week talent who Richard Buxton dubbed “incredible” average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.29, not only ranking him as his club’s joint sixth-best player in the league but also as the joint seventh-best performer in the Austrian top flight as a whole in 2019/20.
The 47-cap international was also in astonishing form over his six Champions League appearances that season, scoring three goals, providing five assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots – 1.5 of which hit the target – making 2.3 key passes and completing 1.3 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the Korean average a simply breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.70, ranking him by far and away as Marsch’s best performer in Europe’s most prestigious club competition – a quite extraordinary feat considering Salzburg were in a group alongside Liverpool, Napoli and Genk.
Furthermore, with Hwang being able to operate from attacking midfield, on either wing and as a centre-forward, should Leeds manage to get a deal over the line for the 26-year-old in the coming days, not only would he provide Marsch with much greater depth on the flanks, but he would also be capable of providing the increasingly injury-prone Patrick Bamford with cover up top.
As such, should the American coach believe that he can help Hwang refind his Salzburg form at Elland Road, the Wolves winger could well prove to be an incredible signing for the Whites this summer – with Nixon’s lastest update suggesting that there very much is a deal there to be done for the attacker.