The National Football League recently revealed the 298 players who will be eligible for free agency in 2024. Free agent moves can be game-changers because they don’t incur transfer fees.
But in professional soccer, it’s not just about the players, it’s also about the length of their contracts. This year, a number of high-profile managers with stellar track records will be on the market. If they don’t get re-signed, we could see a chain reaction of free agents. This is a far cry from last year, when we started the season with no coaching changes.
The field of head coach free agents is stacked. Ulsan Hyundai’s Hong Myung-bo, who is leading the race to the top of the standings, FC Seoul’s Ahn Ik-soo, and Daejeon Hana Citizen’s Lee Min-sung. All three have the upper hand in negotiations, 토토사이트 as they can expect to advance to Final Round A (1-6).
Hong is the most coveted by each club. He took the helm of Ulsan in 2021 and proved why he is a mastermind in the three years he was guaranteed.
Hong’s appeal is his competitive nature. Before Hong’s arrival, Ulsan was known for its “autumn trauma,” failing to cross the championship threshold every year. The team has finished runner-up 10 times, the most in K League 1. That changed when Hong took the helm. Last year, in his second year in charge, the team won its first K League 1 title in 17 years, and this year, the team has a commanding 16-point lead over second place. Barring some sort of upset, Ulsan’s second straight title is a given.
Naturally, Ulsan is doing its best to keep Hong. Rumor has it that they’ve offered him a long-term contract and guaranteed him the best treatment in the K League. A senior Ulsan official said, “We are definitely considering re-signing Hong. We haven’t had a full-scale negotiation, but we are in communication.”
Ahn has also made a name for himself with Seoul this year with a decent first-half performance (third place). This compares to the previous two years, when the club was worried about relegation, although they were left with a void after the recent departure of national team goalkeeper Hwang Eui-jo, whose loan expired. Ahn’s leadership and respect for his veteran players has shed his stiff image. If Ahn fails to re-sign with Seoul, he could be coveted by lower-tier teams in need of results.
Lee, who took Daejeon from the second tier, sparked a revolt from the promoted side this year with his ‘running football’. Daejeon is currently sitting in sixth place, surpassing expectations that they would be close to relegation given their objective form.
One K-League general manager even said, “Where is a leader like Lee Min-sung?” while searching for a coach. In this situation, the delay in Lee’s re-signing caused his stock price to soar. Heo Jeong-moo, the chairman of the board of directors who held the key to the re-signing, abruptly resigned last month, making it difficult to predict his future. “The extension option ends this year,” said a Daejeon official, “so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”