Yang Min-Hyeok - A quick introduction for Tottenham fans
The 18-year-old South Korean winger will join Spurs in January 2025 after enjoying a breakout campaign for Gangwon FC.
On Monday, Tottenham officially announced that 18-year-old South Korean midfielder Yang Min-Hyeok would join the club from Gangwon FC in January 2025 subject to work permit and international clearance.
The news seemed to be met with a mixture of responses, some suggesting that the move was made from a marketing point of view by the club to follow on with their commercial success surrounding star forward Son Heung-min in his home country.
Whilst that may turn out to be a factor in the future if he can break into the starting XI, for now, there’s little doubt that Spurs have instead signed the youngster based on his current form and the bags of potential that he seemingly has at his disposal.
With the help of Opta, here’s a quick look at how the Gangwon star has performed during this campaign to date.
The current 2024 K-League 1 campaign has been a breakout one for 18-year-old Yang Min-Hyeok at Gangwon. Having made his professional club debut in his side’s curtain raiser fixture against Jeju United back in March, he’s since started all 24 subsequent league matches and has proven himself to be arguably the divison’s brightest prospect.
Not only has he helped his side fight their way into a title battle but with his goal against Gwangju back in mid March, he additionally became the youngest K-League scorer since 2013. His rapid rise has since culminated in Gangwon offering him a professional contract whilst still a high school student, the first time in the competition’s history in which that has happened.
"Yang Min-hyuk is the best young player in the K League right now” - South Korean football expert Sungmo Lee
That seems to have proven to be a fantastic decision by the club already as so far through 25 appearances in the Korean top-flight, Min-Hyeok has recorded eight goals and three assists. Without doubt that return will have alerted Spurs to his availability, whilst it has simultaneously given South Korean fans the hope that they’re potentially witnessing the rise of a new footballing star.
Aside from his fantastic finishing which has seen him convert 19.05% of his shots into goals, Min-Hyeok is a brilliant dribbler who enjoys picking up the ball in deeper areas and running at opposing defenders. Without doubt that’s his strongest skill and it’s something which helped him to grab the 'K-League Young Player of the Month' award three times in succession between April to June.
His 24 successful dribbles rank him inside the top ten of all players in his division, although his take-on success rate of 33.33% highlights that improvement is still needed to reach his full potential in that regard. Still in his first full professional season, areas of his game such as that will almost certainly improve with more playing time and experience however, especially when coupled with the higher degree of coaching he’ll receive when he arrives in England come January.
His confidence in possession can further be emphasised by his stand-out statistics with the ball at his feet, namely the 244 total carries which he has recorded this season so far - the ninth-most of any midfield in the Korean top-flight.
His 139 progressive carries (as defined as a player moving more than five metres up field in possession) showcase his attacking purpose too, something which is additionally highlighted by his return of 16 shot-ending carries - the fourth-most of any player in K-League 1.
What could prove an underrated quality for Spurs too is his versatility as a wide player. Although he began the 2024 season with Gangwon by playing on the left-hand side of the pitch, Min-Hyeok has proven that he can just as easily operate on the right wing as seen by his split of open play touches above and by the fact that his last 13 starts have now all come on that opposing flank.
A future move into the central attacking areas of the pitch shouldn’t be ruled out either thanks to his technical ability, although he’ll need to find more overall physicality over time to be able to transition into that position to be a viable selection option.
“We're delighted to have him as part of the club, somebody who was identified by our scouting department. A young talented player and we're looking always to not just for the present but for the future” - Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou
Patience of course needs to be exercised amongst supporters, as it’s extremely unlikely that Yang Min-Hyeok will arrive in January and make an instant impact in the first team. His talent remains raw across the board and in terms of his overall game, a lot of improvement is still needed to even begin to think of him as a fully fledged Premier League player.
Even despite that though, the 18-year-old acts as another exciting signing for the future for Spurs and one that with the right progression could crack the matchday squad in the next couple of seasons in North London.