Celtic facing stiff European competition in race to sign South Korea World Cup star Cho Gue-Sung

Celtic are facing strong competition from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund to sign South Korea international Cho Gue-Sung in the January transfer window.

Reports claim Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou is interested in the striker who grabbed the World Cup headlines by scoring two goals in three minutes during their 3-2 group game defeat against Ghana on Monday.

Postecoglou knows the frontman well after netting against his Yokohama F. Marinos side in the 2020 Asian Champions League and could be actively looking to add more firepower in attack following the news that Giorgos Giakoumakis is set to leave the Parkhead club over a contract dispute.

However, the Scottish champions are competing with Dortmund and Hungarian champions Ferencvaros for Gue-Sung’s signature, with the German outfit already understood to have received the lowdown on the 24-year-old star who currently plays for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in his homeland.

Former South Korean international Lee Young-pyo told CBS radio: “After the first game against Uruguay, the technical director of a very good club in Europe contact me about a scout report for Cho Gue-Sung,” and confirmed that the person in question was someone he had played with while at Borussia Dortmund.

Gue-Sung began his professional career with FC Anyang in 2019 after spending five years in the club’s youth system. After initially starting out as a defensive midfielder at Gwangju University, his role changed to a more attacking role. He netted 14 goals in the second tier and was selected as part of the league’s Best XI after becoming the third top scorer in his first professional season.

That rise earned him a move to K League 1 side Jeonbuk but his first season proved challenging, scoring just four times in 23 apperances before deciding to begin his military service early with Gimcheon Sangmu. That helped him to develop physically and technically and the following year, Gue-Sung scored seven goals in 25 games to help the army team lift the K League 2 title and promotion.

A senior international call-up followed in September 2021 and last season again proved fruitful in front of goal as he returned to Jeonbuk and helped the club win the Korean FA Cup trophy. He created history by becoming the first South Korean player to score two or more goals in a single World Cup match, taking his tally to six goals in 18 caps.