Joining Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 2025 from Korean side Gangwon FC, Asian football expert John Duerden looks at the rise of Spurs' new teenage winger Yang Min-hyeok.
Yang Min-hyeok started 2024 as a 17-year-old high school student, juggling morning classes, afternoon training sessions and weekend appearances in the K-League for Gangwon FC.
It has been a remarkable rise for the winger - but then it was a remarkable debut season.
A breakout year
Yang scored 12 goals (just three behind the league’s top scorer) and managed six assists to help Gangwon FC, who had never previously finished higher than sixth, end the season as K-League runners-up.
Being named Rookie of the Year with a record number of votes was expected. Less so was July’s announcement that Yang had signed a five-and-a-half year deal with Spurs and would join the Premier League club in January 2025.
All this happened just four months after Yang made his professional debut to become the K-League’s youngest ever player.
“When I go to school, my friends always cheer me on, saying, ‘I saw you score a goal,’ and there are even friends who ask for my autograph,” Yang said, reflecting on his surreal year.
Style of play
Yang's role model is Phil Foden - for Gangwon he sported the same number 47 as the Manchester City star - and he loves to run at defenders and is happy to press high up the pitch.
"My strength is dribbling, using speed, and I think my finishing ability has improved recently," Yang said. "I might be a bit behind in terms of physicality… so I’m trying to improve that."
That mentality impressed his head coach at Gangwon, Yoon Jung-Hwan.
"Especially for a young player, Yang is very smart," Yoon said. "That is what makes him different. He understands his opponents and has a very bright future if he keeps working hard."
Another milestone was a call-up to the senior national squad in August, even though the star of the 2023 Under-17 Asian Cup did not come off the bench. When it next happens, he will be able to report for international duty with his Spurs team-mate, Son Heung-min.
Son never played in the K-League - the Spurs captain joined Hamburg as a 16-year-old - but playing-style comparisons between the two Korean attackers are inevitable.
"[Yang] is a very two-footed winger, in terms of physical build, he’s a bit smaller than 'Sonny’," said Korean football journalist Jason Lee.
"He doesn’t necessarily have [Son’s blistering pace] but he is a better 1-v-1 dribbler. If he continues to improve, Yang is a really exciting player."
Able to play on either side of attack, shoot from anywhere, and work extremely hard without the ball, it is clear why Yang might catch the attention of Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou.
A bright future
Millions of fans in Korea hope that Yang can impress Postecoglou, but there is also an understanding that he needs time to settle, mixed with a little excitement that Spurs asked the 18-year-old to fly to London a month earlier than originally planned.
Whatever happens in England, Yang's progress will be closely watched back home, if the number of reporters and cameras capturing his departure from Incheon International Airport on 16 December is any guide.
Yang's transfer is an unusual one for such a young player. Most of the South Korean stars who have made an impact in the Premier League such as Son, Park Ji-sung, Hwang Hee-chan, Seol Ki-hyeon, and Ki Sung-yeung all arrived in England after impressing elsewhere in Europe.
Yang is the youngest player to go directly from the K-League to the Premier League. "I'd like to get into a match before the season ends, and hopefully score a goal or get an assist. Personally, I feel that I am ready," Yang said, just minutes before he boarded the plane for London.
More Korean stars to keep an eye on
If it works out for Yang in England, other young talents in the K-League - Asia’s oldest professional league - could follow him. Here are a few names to look out for:
Hwang Jae-won (Daegu FC)
Age: 22
Position: Right-back
Has already played for the national team and able to play on the right side of defence and midfield.
Hong Yun-sang (Pohang Steelers)
Age: 22
Position: Winger
Three years on loan in Germany seems to have helped as Hong has moved up a level since returning to Korea.