Sunderland sign South Korean Ji Dong-won
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.South Korea international Ji Dong-won became Sunderland's second signing in as many days this afternoon when he completed his move from Chunnam Dragons.
The 20-year-old striker has joined the Black Cats for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract after a protracted wait for the administrative side of the deal to be tied up.
He will join record signing Asamoah Gyan and new boy Connor Wickham, who made his £8.1million switch to the Stadium of Light yesterday, in a revamped strike-force for the new campaign.
Just as they did to capture Wickham, Sunderland saw off competition to snap up their latest acquisition, and manager Steve Bruce was a happy man once again.
He said: "The boy has been in fantastic form for both club and country and he was one of South Korea's stand-out performers at the Asian Cup, so we are delighted to bring him to Sunderland.
"The Barclays Premier League is very different to the K-League, so there is hard work ahead, but you just have to look at players like Park Ji-sung and Lee Chung-yong to see how well Korean players are adapting to its pace and physicality."
Ji has six goals to his name in 11 senior internationals, and was on target four times during the Asian Cup in January as the South Koreans finished third.
The frontman, who stands at almost 6ft 2in, had a trial at Reading earlier in his career.
Bruce has wasted little time in embarking upon what promises to be an extensive rebuilding programme this summer with Wickham and Ahmed Elmohamady having already signed and Keiren Westwood and Sebastian Larsson due to formally complete free transfers to the Stadium of Light tomorrow.
In addition, talks with Birmingham midfielder Craig Gardner are at an advanced stage with Sunderland confident he will also be wearing a red and white shirt next season.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments