Minnesota United came close to signing Hwang Ui Jo before Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest agreed a £4 million fee with Bordeaux for the South Korea striker, the MLS clubs technical director Mark Watson tells the Pioneer Press.
One of this summer’s more complex transfer sagas; Hwang wanted to join Wolves, nearly moved across the Atlantic and eventually ended up in Greece, via the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest, after weeks of speculation, tied the late-blooming goal-poacher down to a three-year deal in August before loaning him out to sister club Olympiakos.
And that came as a real disappointment to a Minnesota United side who made substantial strides in their pursuit of Hwang before things became, well, ‘complicated’. The Western Conference outfit reportedly saw a five million dollar bid rejected by Bordeaux in the middle of July.
“We did go quite a ways down the line with him,” Watson explains. “His situation was really complicated.
“It (would have been) a really big spend. But saying that, we thought he would be a really big addition to the group.”
Nottingham Forest won the race for Bordeaux striker Hwang Ui Jo
Hwang scored 23 goals during his final two campaigns in France, including a more-than-respectable 11 last season for a cash-strapped Girondins side who finished bottom of the Ligue 1 table amid some rather well-documented off-field issues.
Wolves offered a fee of just £1.5 million up front. A further £1 million would have been due if Wolverhampton Wanderers secured Champions League qualification in 2022/23. As bonuses go, this was up there with Bayern Munich offering to pay more for Sadio Mane if the former Liverpool star won the Ballon D’Or in every year of his contract at the Bundesliga giants.
Hwang was also a target for West Ham at one point.
“I am waiting. Nothing is decided yet,” he said a couple of months ago. “It is true that offers have arrived from FC Nantes and West Ham United as well.”
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