Nobody knew just why South Korean international Park Chu-Young never got a chance to prove himself for Arsenal this season.
Given the way he'd been brought in—under rather untoward circumstances—you'd have thought Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had it in mind to play him. A lot.
Arsenal had sealed a transfer for the 26-year-old AS Monaco forward under the very nose of Lille chairman Michel Seydoux last August. The story went that Park, who had played for Monaco since 2008, had arrived in Lille to undergo a medical with the presumption he was on the verge of joining the 2010-11 double winners.
Then he failed to show up for the second part of his medical. Lille team representatives checked in his hotel room, only to find it abandoned. Park had taken off for London; Arsenal had upped Lille's offer. The deal with Lille was off, and Arsenal had their man.
"We haven’t had a telephone call, nothing," said Seydoux back then. "From what we understand [Park] could be at Arsenal."
It was one of the more curious storylines of what turned into an unforgettable flurry of transfers for Arsenal.
Park's £2.7 million transfer (with a £1.8 million additional payment if Park was excused from military service—mandatory in South Korea for two years—and it appeared that Park succeeded in delaying his term for the time being, meaning that Arsenal likely had to pay Monaco that extra sum) was lost in the kerfuffle of deals for the likes of Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker, not to mention a loan move for Yossi Benayoun.
But at 26, with a stellar track record for South Korea (he made his debut for the national team as a teenager) and Monaco, Park still looked like a bargain.
53039519_crop_340x234 A star for Korea since his teenage years.
Ben Radford/Getty Images
Here was a player known for his mobility and technical prowess, who could provide cover at the forward position in the event that Robin van Persie succumbed to injury.
But oh, how we were wrong. Park made just one league appearance for Arsenal this past season, and despite scoring a superb goal in the FA Cup against Bolton in October (cue 2:40 for his Thierry Henry-esque strike), never earned the confidence of Wenger. His lack of first-team opportunities was testament enough to that.
Park made appearances for the reserves, but for the most part made his greatest imprint as one of the great enigmas of this Arsenal season. We heard snippets about Park, but rarely saw him. It was bizarre, to say the least.
Thus it surprised no one when Park said he would seek a transfer away from the club this summer if his playing time did not increase. With the arrival of Lukas Podolski, it seems only a matter of time before he packs his bags once more—this time for a destination away from London, not one year removed from the secretive deal that brought him there in the first place.
But first he has to be found. John Duerden, an expert on Asian football, tweeted Wednesday that Park had dropped off the proverbial face of the earth.
"Nobody knows where Park Chu-young is," Duerden reported. "[He] hasn't been answering KFA (Korean Football Association) calls to check on his condition in past few days."
It was the latest twist in what has become a thoroughly bizarre affair concerning the Korean. Duerden tweeted on Thursday that Park had been dropped by the Korean national team ahead of a round of upcoming matches.
Where will this winding tale turn next? We'll have to wait and see. At the very least, it looks like Park will not be with Arsenal next season. But his disappearance is the sort of thing that makes one think he must want some time away from football after what he endured this season.
Too bad, really, when you think about it. This whole tale smacks of a missed opportunity. Nothing rankles like wasted talent.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Ach
