Korean Kwon impresses at Dijon

DIJON: With five goals and two assists this season, South Korean attacking midfielder Kwon Chang-Hoon represents a gamble that has paid off for Dijon, the modest French club he joined a year ago.

Kwon has become one of the motors of a Dijon team that are in the top half of Ligue 1, have the best attack outside the top four and face their biggest test of the season when they travel to the mighty Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening.

The 23-year-old left Suwon Bluewings in his native South Korea in January 2017 for Burgundy and a four-and-a-half-year contract. Dijon paid a fee of 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million), one of the biggest transfers in their history.

“We learned there was a player at Suwon Bluewings who was young, lively, creative and very strong one-on-one,” said Sebastien Larcier, in charge of scouting at Dijon.Kwon made his debut for Suwon, one of the top clubs in the K League, at the age of 18 in April 2012. He appeared for the national team for the first time in 2015 and has played 14 times for South Korea scoring three goals. “I had offers from clubs in the Persian Gulf and in China but I wanted to come to Europe to progress. Dijon were the most persuasive,” Kwon said.