MANCHESTER United has a not-so-secret weapon to win over fans in its preseason tour of Asia — the continent’s star, Park Ji-sung.
The South Korean star’s exploits have not only made him a household name to soccer fans, they have helped strengthen the Premier League champion’s status as the most popular club in Asia.
Not all stars from the east are as successful as Park, or play for such a prestigious club, but that doesn’t stop many European clubs searching for the holy grail — an Asian player who can make a valuable contribution on the field and make a commercial impact off it.
It is the big clubs that benefit most from signing Asian players. On the back of Park, Manchester United has seen Koreans snap up 1.2 million club credit cards and there are an estimated six million United fans in South Korea.
When news emerged of the three-time European champion’s plans to play an exhibition at Seoul, some 20,000 tickets were sold within the first hour — and 44,000 more quickly followed.
Scottish powerhouse Celtic recouped much of the US$4.1 million spent on Shunsuke Nakamura through owning the Japanese star’s image rights and watching its profile soar in Japan.
Perhaps the hottest Asian property is a player tipped to follow in Park’s footsteps to PSV Eindhoven. South Korea’s Ki Sung-yong, 20, is already an established international player and is being tracked by clubs all over Europe.
Ki has made it clear that he wants to play in England. Young, good-looking and extremely talented, he has the potential to be a huge star.
So does FC Seoul and South Korea teammate Lee Chung-yong. The right-side midfielder has attracted interest from Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic among a host of English clubs.(SD-Agencies)