Hwang Ui-Jo has now revealed the advice he gave to Oh Hyeon-Gyu before his transfer to Celtic. The Hoops lured the striker to Parkhead in January to build Ange Postecoglou’s side.
The 21-year-old has so far enjoyed a steady start to his spell in Scotland with one goal over four appearances. Oh has only played a cumulative 61 minutes in all competitions at Celtic, as well. Postecoglou awarded the forward his longest outing of 27 minutes in the SFA Cup.
It was also against St Mirren in the SFA Cup last Saturday that Oh scored his debut goal for Celtic. The £2.5m arrival from Suwon Samsung Bluewings tapped in the Bhoys’ third in the 5-1 affair. But he has only featured for eight, 15 and 11 minutes in his Premiership outings.
Postecoglou sought to agree on a transfer with Suwon for Oh as the one-cap South Korea international scored 14 goals last year. He also provided two assists across all competitions for the K-League outfit over 39 games. The 2022 campaign was truly a breakthrough term.
Oh had not scored through his previous 14 senior appearances for Cheong-Baek-Jeok. But the Namyangju, Gyeonggi-born attacker scored nine and created six goals in 40 games for Gimcheon Sangmu whilst on loan during the 2020 top-flight and 2021 second-tier seasons.
Hwang Eu-Jo now reveals his advice to Oh Hyeon-Gyu before his transfer to Celtic
Celtic now hope Oh adapts to the Premiership in his first transfer away from South Korea. While the striker sought advice from Hwang over what European football is like before he put pen to paper. His compatriot is now back in South Korea after five-and-a-half years.
“Because I had previously played in Europe with Bordeaux for three years, Oh reached out to me for advice before he decided to sign for Celtic,” Hwang said, via the Glasgow Times.
“I had a couple of important instructions for him. The first was to gain the respect of your teammates and the second was to learn to play as a wide forward or a winger, as well as just a striker. In European football, variety is key.
“The ability to be able to play well in a number of positions is very important. I believe Oh is good enough to do that. He has the physicality and ability to expand his game.”
Hwang left South Korean side Seongnam FC in 2017 to join Gamba Osaka in the J-League. He then moved to Europe in 2019 with Bordeaux before joining Nottingham Forest back in August. But the striker struggled with the Reds and he joined FC Seoul on loan this winter.
The 30-year-old initially left the City Ground to join Olympiacos on loan immediately after joining from Bordeaux, as well. He scored 29 goals over 98 outings for the French side but failed to net over 12 games in Greece. So, Celtic will hope Oh builds on his maiden strike.
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