Following Celtic, a report appeared that Scottish Premier League rival club Rangers also started recruiting Cho Kyu-sung.
The Scottish media ‘Football Scotland’ reported on the 10th (Korean time), “Cho Kyu-sung has attracted interest from the Rangers.”
The media added, “Rangers are paying attention to Cho Kyu-seong, the goal of Celtic’s recruitment, and have not yet participated in an official bid.”
He also explained the recent situation that Celtic seems to have offered 3 million pounds (approximately 4.5 billion won), and is aiming to recruit Cho Kyu-sung at a higher amount than Germany’s Mainz.
Cho Kyu-seong became the top scorer in the 2022 season K-League 1 with 17 goals for Gimcheon and Jeonbuk. Thanks to his performance in his team, Cho Kyu-seong, who was named in the final roster for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, started to attract a lot of attention by showing vigorous activity by appearing as a substitute in the first game of the group stage.
Cho Kyu-seong scored two goals with a header in the match against Ghana in the second group match in which he started, becoming the first multi-goal hero in Korean soccer history in a single World Cup match. Thanks to his World Cup performance, he received a lot of interest from clubs.
So far, clubs that have shown interest in him include Celtic and Mainz, as well as Turkiye Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, and Hungary’s Ferencvaros.
Representative Cho Kyu-seong revealed that the US MLS club also jumped in.
The conditions are 안전놀이터 the best for the American team, but Cho Kyu-sung has a clear will to go to Europe, so the possibility of entering the MLS is low.
According to foreign media, Celtic’s aggressive intention to recruit seems to have stimulated local rivals Rangers.
This means that there is a possibility that the face-to-face confrontation between Scotland’s biggest rivals, Celtic and Rangers, called ‘Old Firm Derby’ will happen even with the recruitment of Cho Kyu-sung.
Football Scotland said, “Cho Kyu-seong is likely to leave his home country for Europe this month. Celtic are the most likely, but Rangers are also showing interest in Cho Kyu-sung.”
Correspondent Alan Nixon of British media The Sun said, “The two Scottish rival teams are making progress in recruiting Cho Kyu-sung. Insiders believe Rangers are working harder than Celtic to sign Cho. This news comes after reports of a £3m offer from Celtic.”
Celtic are currently looking for a J-League move for Giorgios Yakomakis, and Maeda Daizen is also interested in signing from Southampton in the Premier League. Except for Kyogo Furuhashi, striker resources are scarce.
Rangers are similar. Currently, the existing main player Kemar Lupe is struggling with injury, and striker resources are lacking except for the current main striker Antonio-Mirko Colac.
The competition to recruit Cho Kyu-seong between two Scottish rivals, who urgently need to strengthen their offensive line, is expected to continue in the transfer market this winter.
However, since Cho Kyu-seong’s agent has never conveyed the possibility of a transfer to another club besides Celtic and Mainz, it remains to be seen whether Rangers’ interest will lead to an actual proposal and transfer.