Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill has revealed there were offers for striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ji-Dong-Won-c18522 which had been rejected by the club.
Beginning his senior career with the Chunnam Dragons, Dong-won transferred to Sunderland under manager Steve Bruce in the summer of 2011. He signed a three year deal after managing to impress then Black Cats boss in the Asian Cup 2011.
He managed to make 29 appearances for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chunnam-Dragons-c38805 in 2010 and finished as the top goal scorer in the Korean FA Cup and had a total of 13 goals in the K-League. Sunderland were believed to have paid an initial amount of £2,000,000 for the South Korean.
Since his arrival in the English Premier League, Dong-won has scored twice in 16 appearances in all competitions for the Black Cats. Despite having risen to prominence, the youngster was linked with a move away in the winter transfer window after Martin
O’Neill was appointed club manager.
However, O’Neill confirmed that while there had been offers for Dong-won from abroad, he wished to keep the player at the Stadium of Light. He revealed he did not even want the South Korea international to leave Sunderland on a loan move.
O’Neill said in an interview:
“We've had a few phone calls from clubs abroad that would like to take Ji on loan, but we've knocked them back.
The fact is, we can't afford to lose any of our squad at the moment, but besides that, Ji is a player who has done well for us.”
The Northern Irish manager insisted he was not looking to sell any players in the January transfer window and especially not Dong-won, since the youngster had been excellent for the team. According to O’Neill, Dong-won was extremely talented and would go
on to be a top striker in the near future.
He continued:
“The lad has talent, but he's just come over here and is still learning the game. We want to see how he progresses and develops.
Apart from that, he's just scored one of the most important goals that I can remember - that amazing last-minute winner against Man City and making himself an instant hero in the eyes of the fans - and myself - in the process.”
Tags: