New Celtic signing reveals massive incentive given to him for glory next summer

Yang Hyun-jun has joined Celtic from South Korean outfit Gangwon FC.

As incentives go, Yang Hyun-Jun, who has just signed a five-year deal with Celtic from Gangwon, has a carrot in front of him that will rival anything a chief exec can throw at him.

The 21-year-old has been told that he and his fellow South Korean team-mates can skip compulsory national service should they return from next summer’s Paris Olympics with anything better than a bronze. Below that and there will be a military spell awaiting. “At the Olympics we need to earn a bronze medal at the minimum,” Yang said. “There are a lot of good players born in 2001, so I think I can aim for this.”

He has already spoken to Oh Hyeong-yu, who arrived at Celtic under Ange Postecoglou and with whom he has sought some advice from, albeit that his Parkhead colleague carries a little more standing in his homeland. “Oh and I have been good friends for a while,” he said. “After the move to Celtic was agreed he gave me some good advice. The main thing was that I have to become more independent and show a good mentality as a player. I watched a few of his matches for Celtic and in one of the games he scored and made his signature pose. That was really inspiring to me and motivated me.

“I met him for the first time before the World Cup. I’m quite a shy person but Oh was very friendly and he took care of me, making some jokes. We went to cafes and restaurants together. They both (Oh and fellow new boy Kwon Hyeok-kyu) take good care of me and I expect to settle in well and learn a lot from both of them. I know that Oh and Kwon both speak better English than me but because I am a beginner, I think I can learn a lot faster than other players. Oh was already famous because he is a national team player. With Kwon and I moving to Celtic, I think this will definitely have a good impact on Celtic fans in Korea because they all now know that Celtic is a team that won a treble last season.”

The wide-man was also cognisant of the timing of his move. The K-League season kicked off in February which means that he will play one elongated campaign without any real break given that he has already been in action for the last five months. “A lot of players and coaches around me in Korea told me that it might be more difficult for me to adapt if I arrived in winter,” he said. “They suggested that if I could, I make the move in summer. Celtic are now in the pre-season, whereas I am in the middle of the season. I think that’s why I am more prepared. It wasn’t easy because of the situation of my club [Gangwon are currently bottom of the K League] but it was definitely worth waiting for. I was always looking forward to it.”

Relatively inexperienced, Yang nevertheless showed a composure about himself as he ducked a question about picking up individual accolades come the end of this season. “My first step is to adapt to the football here and play as many minutes as I can, let’s see how it goes,” he said. “I need to work on my physicality and my conditioning training. I know the level of football in Europe is very high so I will start that as soon as I can.”