Ki Sung-yueng posted on his Instagram account that he had visited Real Madrid Training Center on Wednesday (Korea time). There were also commemorative photos of Carlo Ancelotti, Raul Gonzalez, Jude Bellingham, Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga.
Ki Sung-yueng, a native of Gwangyang Steel & Steel Middle School and Geumho High School, made his professional debut at FC Seoul in 2009 and appeared like an old castle. Since then, Ki has become a legend in Seoul. He has grown into the core of his team by scoring nine goals and 13 assists in 93 games in total, and made his A-match debut in 2008. Since then, he has scored 10 goals in 110 A matches, making his A-match debut in 2008
Ki challenged himself to the European stage in 2010. He transferred to Celtic FC, one of the most prestigious Scottish Premiership clubs. At Celtic, Ki immediately completed his adjustment by playing in 10 matches. He also gained experience in international stages by participating in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after the 2009-2010 season.
During his three seasons with Celtic, he showed off stellar performance with 12 goals and nine assists in 87 matches, before moving to Swansea City in the English Premier League. After the move, Ki posted three assists in 38 matches in his first season, and was given many opportunities to play as the team’s main midfielder.
In the second year, he left on loan to Sunderland AFC to get more opportunities, and he had a successful loan spell with four goals and two assists in 35 games. After returning from loan, Ki Sung-yueng was back in charge of Swansea’s midfield again, and left an excellent record of 12 goals and 10 assists in 168 games.
In the 2014-2015 season, Shinji Kagawa broke the record for the most goals scored in a single season in the Asian Premier League set by Manchester United. Unfortunately, Swansea was relegated from the Premier League in the 2017-2018 season to the second division of the English Championship, and Ki Sung-yueng moved to Newcastle United at the end of his contract period.
However, moving to Newcastle was a disappointing option. Ki appeared in only 23 games during his two seasons with Newcastle, and left the team with only one assist. While leaving Newcastle after the contract period was over, Ki negotiated with Seoul for his return to the K-League, but negotiations failed, and signed a contract with RCD Mallorca in the Spanish Primera Liga.
After completing his six-month short-term contract with Mallorca, Ki eventually returned to his former team, Seoul, and became the biggest contributor to the K-League’s box office success. Ki made it possible for Korean soccer fans to visit the stadium with his outstanding performance, and after playing with six goals and six assists in 114 games, he gained free agency status.
During the off-season, Ki has been actively engaged in overseas clubs. He personally encouraged Hwang Hee-chan and Tottenham Hotspur Son Heung-min of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, and also visited his former club Celtic. He also visited the Brighton Hove and Albion club led by Roberto De Zerbi, a well-known tactician.
And on that day, Ki seems to have even returned to the Real Madrid training site. “I had a great time in Madri over the past two days. I’m coming back after learning a lot by talking about soccer with Coach Raul and Arbeloa as well as Ancelotti,” Ki said on Instagram.
“I was happy to have a lot of conversations with Hosselu at Newcastle, Antonio at Sunderland as physical coaches, and Modric and Bellingham, who understand England well. It was impressive to see him train and prepare really hard as the best team in the world. It was a time when I felt a lot of things,” he added.
Real Madrid also welcomed Ki with a bright smile. Ancelotti, Raul II, Modric, and Camavinga all smiled brightly for the photo session, while Bellingham looked serious and continued dialogue with Ki.