It’s fair to say Hwang Ui -Jo was not exactly enamoured with the prospect of spending 2022/23 at Olympiakos.
According to L’Equipe, the South Korea international had concerns from the get-go about Nottingham Forest’s plan to send him out on loan to the Greek giants, while negotiating a £4 million move from crisis-hit Bordeaux.
And reports suggesting that Hwang could be on his way out of the Olympiakos as early as January – cutting his season-long loan deal short at the halfway stage (Sportime) – add some prescience to the striker’s initial reservations.
Nottingham Forest loanee Hwang Ui-Jo having a nightmare at Olympiakos
In 12 games, Hwang has not scored a single goal; his hopes of adapting to life in Greece hardly helped by the sacking of head coach Carlos Corberan in mid-September.
Where Hwang goes from here remains to be seen. Will he be farmed out once again in the New Year? Or can a forward who plundered an impressive 23 goals during his final two seasons at struggling Bordeaux prove his worth to a Nottingham Forest side among the lowest-scoring sides in England’s Premier League?
“He has the ability to score. And he can play anywhere in the attack,” former Bordeaux coach Jean-Louis Gasset says of the 29-year-old penalty-box poacher. “He’s very active for a front-line striker. Hwang’s mental ability is also excellent.”
Whatever happens, who could blame Hwang for feeling ever-so-slightly bitter? According to French football reporter Clement Carpentier, the late-blooming frontman wanted to join Wolves instead. But the men from Molineux would not match Nottingham Forest’s £4 million offer.
Hwang also received approaches from Nantes and West Ham United.
“It true,” Hwang told G4E back in July. “Offers have arrived from FC Nantes, and West Ham as well.”
Unless Hwang can return to Forest and fire Steve Cooper’s side out of the relegation zone, this will go down as a transfer that didn’t really work out for anyone.
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