Bundesliga
Who is Hyun-seok Hong?
Mainz have continued their South Korean love affair with the signing of Hyun-seok Hong. bundesliga.com has the lowdown on the exciting attacker...
Stats correct as of 2 September 2024
Age: 25 (born 16 June 1999)
Club: Mainz
Position: Attacking midfielder
Country: South Korea (12 caps)
Key stats
Hong made a name for himself at an early age in his home country, winning a silver medal in the 2015 Summer Youth Olympics in China, aged just 15. Those performances saw him called up to the U17s, which put him on the radar of some of Korea's top sides. After finishing high school, he was duly snapped up by K League outfit Ulsan Hyundai, though he was shipped straight out on loan to Germany's Unterhaching for the 2018/19 season.
Hong played in 10 games with the Unterhaching U19s, followed by 10 more with the seniors. Those displays in Bavaria earned a cross-border move to FC Unioz - LASK's satellite club - where he produced five assists in his debut season. The Seoul-born star graduated to the Austrian tier with LASK before long, enjoying a debut senior campaign totalling a goal and eight assists across 40 appearances.
Hong went on to spend two seasons in Beligum with Gent, during which time he won his first senior international caps. The 5'8" talent had a hand in 38 goals in his 104 appearances in all competitions, before joining Mainz on 30 August 2024.
Watch: Hong scored a stunning debut goal for Gent
Plays a bit like: Dani Olmo
Hong is the kind of multi-purpose a midfielder more commonly found in the Spain national team. He's an expert in combination play in and around the opposition penalty area, much like former RB Leipzig playmaker Dani Olmo.
Did you know?
A Bundesliga debutant against VfB Stuttgart just 24 hours after completing his move to Mainz, Hong is the sixth South Korean to play for the 05ers after Jae-sung Lee, Joo-Ho Park, Ja-cheol Koo, Du-Ri Cha and Dong-won Ji.
What they're saying
"Hong is a technically skilled, creative and goal-scoring attacking midfielder who can be used in a range of positions. He covers so much ground for his teams and is, therefore, an excellent fit for our running-intensive game." - Mainz sports director Christian Heidel
"Hong has so many qualities that you normally don't find in one player: he scores, recovers the ball, runs the most metres and is everywhere. Others have tried to take that role, but have not always succeeded in all aspects." - former Gent head coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck