K League's Jeonbuk acquire ex-Barca prospect amid controversy

▲ This EPA file photo from June 14, 2020, shows Paik Seung-ho of Darmstadt 98 (R) in action against Linton Maina of Hannover 96 during a 2. Bundesliga football match at Merck-Stadion in Darmstadt, Germany. (Yonhap)

▲ In this EPA file photo from June 18, 2020, Paik Seung-ho of Darmstadt 98 (front) fends off Cebio Soukou of Arminia Bielefeld during their 2. Bundesliga football match at Schueco Arena in Bielefeld, Germany. (Yonhap)

▲ This photo provided by Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Feb. 22, 2021, shows the K League 1 club's former youth player, Paik Seung-ho, at the team's office in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, in June 2012. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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K League's Jeonbuk acquire ex-Barca prospect amid controversy

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korean football champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors announced Tuesday they've signed former FC Barcelona youth player Paik Seung-ho, despite controversy surrounding Paik's prior agreement with another domestic club.

Jeonbuk, the four-time K League title holders, first opened talks to acquire Paik from his most recent club, Darmstadt 98 in the second-division Bundesliga, in February. But another K League club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, informed Jeonbuk that Paik, a one-time Suwon youth player, already had a deal in place to join Suwon if he wanted to come back from Europe.

Jeonbuk decided to halt transfer talks later in February, and Suwon threatened legal action against Paik if the player signed elsewhere.

But with Suwon and Paik unable to narrow their differences and the 24-year-old midfielder left in limbo, Jeonbuk went ahead and signed him on Tuesday -- one day before the K League-mandated deadline to sign new players for the first half of the season.

"We decided to acquire Paik Seung-ho and allow him to continue his playing career in the K League," Jeonbuk said in a statement. "We confirmed with the league office that there were no problems with signing Paik. Based on a letter that Suwon sent to Paik recently, we also determined that they weren't going to sign him. That's why we went ahead with this deal."

Paik's history with Suwon Samsung Bluewings goes back to 2010, when he was admitted to Suwon-based Maetan Middle School, a youth club for the K League side.

Paik soon left the country to join FC Barcelona's youth team. Suwon allowed Paik to leave for Spain and even offered to provide him with financial assistance for three years. In exchange, Paik agreed to attend Maetan High School, another youth feeder team for Suwon, after his time in Spain was up.

Instead, Paik signed a five-year deal with Barcelona in 2011. According to Suwon, Paik didn't have any consultations with them before agreeing to that Barcelona contract.

The Bluewings still honored their three-year financial commitment and got Paik to sign another deal that gave Suwon the exclusive rights to the player if he chose to play professionally in Korea.

According to Suwon, the second deal also allowed Suwon to seek compensation for financial damage if Paik failed to honor its terms.

Suwon claimed in February that Paik never told them about his negotiations with Jeonbuk, and that if Paik signed with Jeonbuk, he would have had to return the money he'd received from Suwon while in Spain on top of any compensation for damages.

Paik had earlier offered to return 300 million won (US$264,430) he'd received from Suwon. On top of that 300 million won, Suwon demanded 120 million won in legal interest and 1 billion won in damages.

As for the situation between Suwon and Paik, Jeonbuk said, "It's something that the two parties should handle."

Suwon said they will take legal action as they'd planned all along in case Paik signed elsewhere.

"We've tried several times to rebuild trust with Paik Seung-ho," an official from Suwon said. "It's really unfortunate there are stories out there that we didn't want to sign him."

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