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| ▲ This photo provided by FC Seoul on April 5, 2022, shows the K League 1 club's new midfielder, Hwang In-beom, dressed in the team's kits. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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Deal with Russian club suspended, midfielder Hwang In-beom joins FC Seoul
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean international midfielder Hwang In-beom signed a short-term contract with FC Seoul on Tuesday, shortly after his deal with a Russian team was suspended due to the country's invasion of Ukraine.
FC Seoul said Hwang will play for them through June this year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hwang, 25, had been playing for the top-division Russian club Rubin Kazan since 2020. But his future with the club was thrown into limbo in February, when Russia invaded Ukraine and was hit with a series of sanctions from the international community.
FIFA is temporarily allowing foreign players based in Russia to unilaterally suspend their contracts and play elsewhere. Hwang took advantage of that and decided to continue his career in his native land.
FC Seoul said if Hwang chooses to stay put in the K League, then they will retain him for the rest of the season. The K League 1 campaign will conclude in October.
Hwang has emerged as the go-to midfielder for the senior national team, a versatile playmaker armed with offensive instincts and defensive chops. He has collected 31 caps.
At the under-23 level, Hwang was a member of South Korea's gold medal-winning squad at the 2018 Asian Games.
Hwang made his club debut with Daejeon Hana Citizen in the K League 1 in 2015. He later spent two seasons with Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer before taking his talent to Russia in August 2020.
Hwang has been nursing a broken toe since late February and has already been in South Korea for a few weeks for treatment.
FC Seoul are in the relegation zone after seven matches this season, stuck in 11th place out of 12 clubs with six points from one win, three draws and three losses.
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