Daejeon Hana Citizen's 2025 winter signings and where they might fit in | OneFootball

Daejeon Hana Citizen have moved quickly in the winter transfer window to add several new faces to their playing squad with the acquisitions of Park Kyu-hyun, Ha Chang-rae, Jeong Jae-hee, Lim Jong-eun and Joo Min-kyu as the Purples look to seal a top-six finish in 2025.

After sealing the permanent signing of Brazilian midfielder Victor Bobsin at the tail end of 2024, Daejeon then moved for left back Park Kyu-hyun from German third-tier outfit Dynamo Dresden then Ha Chang-rae was announced on January 2nd, a loan deal from Nagoya Grampus as manager Hwang Sun-hong looks to shore up his back line.

Daejeon Hana Citizen announced their fourth and fifth signings of the winter on Friday 3rd December, confirming the arrivals of winger Jeong Jae-hee from Pohang Steelers and Lim Jong-eun from Ulsan HD on a free transfer. Experienced striker and Korean international Joo Min-kyu was then announced as a Daejeon player on January 5th.

Where they might fit in...

Park Kyu-hyun

A left back who was part of Hwang Sun-hong's 2023 Asian Games gold medal-winning team, it's easy to see where the connection is. Park Kyu-hyun is expected to be fighting for the first-choice left back spot along. Hwang clearly sees left back as an area that needs addressing and had played right backs Oh Jae-suk and Kang Yoon-seong there when fit, before adding Lee Sang-min on loan from Suwon Bluewings. But with a permanent move for Lee not feasible, Daejeon have had to look elsewhere.

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Park will be competing with Bae Seo-joon, who has returned from a six-month loan spell with Suwon Bluewings. Park Jin-seong was expected to leave and join Suwon FC but that move appears to have stalled, while Kim Min-woo appears to be preferred as a central midfielder rather than a left back.

Ha Chang-rae

Having cited a lack of playing time as a reason for the move, Ha Chang-rae will likely be first choice at centre back and it might be a case of who plays alongside him. But with Kim Hyeon-woo and Anton Kryvotsyuk signing new deals, and Lim Jong-eun also signing to add to the growing number of centre backs, Hwang Sun-hong could be looking to switch formation to a back three.

Lim Jong-eun

At 34, Lim will likely be there as a rotation option but will bring a wealth of experience to the dressing room. Lim has multiple K League 1 winners' medals, not to mention close to 400 matches and an ACL win on his CV. Lim played 24 times in the league for Ulsan last year to help the Horangi clinch a third-straight title.

Jeong Jae-hee

Jeong Jae-hee joins a team with a lot of wingers, and it is said that Daejeon were surprised that Kim In-gyun wasn't selected to join Gimcheon as expected - his expected enlistment was what prompted Daejeon to move for another winger and the deal to sign Jeong was already in place before the Gimcheon announcement was made.

Jeong can operate from either side but is deployed from the right more often than not so will be competing with Yoon Do-young and Shin Sang-eun. He'll likely be first choice on the right but Jeong has a proven track record of coming off the bench and making an impact having bagged four and assisted in the league and three in the cups as a sub. How Hwang Sun-hong manages the playing time of Kelvin, Kim In-gyun, Jeong Jae-hee, Kim Hyeon-ug, and Yoon Do-young, in particular, will be interesting.

Joo Min-kyu

Daejeon had been looking for a proven, domestic striker and they don't come much more proven in K League than Joo Min-kyu. Joo is expected to be the starting striker for Daejeon in the new season, a reliable option to lead the line with the jury perhaps still out on Vladislavs Gutkovskis in terms of his fitness and ability to play week in week out. With Gutek also a regular for the Latvian national team, the signing of Joo will take the pressure off a bit when Gutek heads back for international duty. Joo Min-kyu will be someone who Cheon Seong-hoon should be looking to learn from. Hwang Sun-hong was the manager who handed Joo Min-kyu his first international call-up and debut in March last year.

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Possible formations

A lot of centre backs, wingers, and now three number-nine-type strikers means it is hard to guess what Daejeon's formation will be in 2025. A 4-2-3-1 might make the most sense with Bobsin and Lee Soon-min in front of the back four, Masa through the middle as the number 10, and any two of Jeong Jae-hee, Kim Hyeon-ug, Kim Seung-dae, Yoon Do-young, and Kim In-gyun as the outer forwards.

A 3-5-2 could see Daejeon get three centre backs into the side with Kim Moon-hwan and Park Kyu-hyun as wingbacks. Three central midfielders of Bobsin, Lee Soon-min, and Masa slightly more advanced would work with Joo Min-kyu or Gutek alongside a second forward, perhaps Cheon Seong-hoon.

A 3-4-3 would basically be the same as a 3-5-2 as Masa would push up and make it a front three in possession anyway. Hwang Sun-hong didn't stray too far away from the 4-4-2 with a double six throughout most of his time in charge last season. He began with a 3-4-3 but once it was clear it wasn't working, he made the switch. He used a 3-4-3 on six occasions to yield one win, one draw, three defeats, a 4-3-3 (one win, one draw, one loss), then from the Round 27 home win over Incheon, it was 4-4-2.

Under Lee Min-sung in 2023, Daejeon were a counterattacking team and it was a system that worked but a switch to a back four from a three and more possession-based style was undone by the departure of Cho Yu-min. This meant a switch back again was unsuccessful and ultimately, with results not forthcoming, led to his departure. Daejeon fans may well be concerned that history will repeat itself under Hwang with it now looking like he will move away from his high press, two false-nines approach.