FC Seoul said it recruited Ki Sung-yueng, a former captain of the South Korean national soccer team, on July 21. Ki Sung-yueng, who joined FC Seoul in 2006, made his professional debut in 2007 with the full support of then FC Seoul coach Senol Gunes, a former coach of the Turkish national team for the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, and continued his career at FC Seoul, winning the league’s best 11 the following year. Since then, he has made in roads into Europe with explosive growth and has returned to Korea, wrapping up his decade-long career in Europe. However, this process was not smooth. The Pharos covered the reason why the transfer process was not smooth, as he had said many times that he would return to FC Seoul if he returned to the K-League.

He chose to retire from the national team to continue his European career due to a knee injury, which was like a time bomb, but he pushed for his return to the domestic stage as he rarely had a chance to play. He had repeatedly said in interviews and broadcasting media that he would definitely return to FC Seoul if he returned to the K-League. FC Seoul fans recalled his remarks and waited for his return. That’s why many FC Seoul fans firmly believed that Ki Sung-yueng would return to FC Seoul. However, contrary to expectations, the negotiations were slow, and various football officials made fans nervous by even reporting that Ki was upset during the negotiations. In the midst of this, articles poured out that he would return to Jeonbuk Hyundai, not FC Seoul. Therefore, many soccer fans were confused. His affection for FC Seoul was so famous that many fans were curious about the news that he was moving to his league rival Jeonbuk Hyundai. At that time, the move to Jeonbuk Hyundai was almost certain. However, suddenly, the transfer to Mallorca was officially announced, despite Ki having he pushed for a return to his home league. But why did he move back to the European league team, not Seoul or Jeonbuk?

First of all, FC Seoul is the team he pushed for a return to. However, FC Seoul was a limited-pay team that primarily catered to domestic players. Nevertheless, it was a team with a large annual salary budget that could be given to players from abroad, called “the mercenary,” it offers Ki about 400 to 500 million won in annual salary. Ki Sung-yueng was a multi- billion-dollar-a-year player in Europe, so he was first hurt during this salary negotiation process because his performance was fantastic enough to deserve the highest salary in the K-League. At that time, the highest salary in the K-League was the 1.5 billion won paid to Jeonbuk's Kim Jin-su. However, Ki's salary range was 900 million to 1 billion won. FC Seoul fans were furious at the news because he did not even want the highest level of treatment in the league. There had also been rumors that who even said hurtful things were said to the player during the negotiations. Ki Sung-yueng, famous for his strong self- esteem, stopped negotiating with FC Seoul. The anger of FC Seoul fans soared as some even reported that they had lost Ko Myung-jin and Lee Chung-yong, to Ulsan due to similar negotiations. Meanwhile, the FC Seoul club also tried to enforce its contract condition that Ki would have to pay about 2 billion won in penalties if he moved to another team when he returned to Korea. Considering the relationship between the two clubs, Jeonbuk canceled negotiations with Ki. In the end, his wish to return to Korea when he was in even a little better condition was trampled on, and he moved to Mallorca.

As the COVID-19 crisis calmed down in Korea, professional sports opened once again, but In Europe, which has suffered greatly due to COVID-19, the seaon opened later than in Korea. Ki Sung-yueng, who had signed a six-month short-term contract, decided to return to Korea after the contract was over, playing only one game for Mallorca. While deciding on his course of action, he ended up choosing to return after receiving a sincere apology from the FC Seoul club and a promise of the best treatment for domestic players. Although his return to FC Seoul was decided after many twists and turns, the so-called “power trip” negotiations by the FC Seoul club became controversial and many fans left. Since it is FC Seoul has performed poorly recently attention is being paid to whether Ki Sung-yueng's recruitment will persuade fans to re-enter the league and rebound.