With recent reports that Kwon Hyeok-kyu's arrival at Celtic is imminent, it felt worthwhile to apply a benchmarking exercise for the player and build upon the excellent analysis Stewart Ross from December 2022.
Kwon has been competing in the Korean second division during the 2023 season, and as previously written in December, he played in five games in K League 2 during the 2022 season. In order to expand the sample size of this exercise, it was worth using the trailing calendar year to build the player peer group and limiting it to only K League 2 minutes.
Prior to diving into the data, a reminder that this exercise is intended to try and provide a player profile relative to the style of play, potential strengths versus weaknesses, including how he may have been utilised within his team. In Kwon’s case he has very much been deployed as a ball-winning defensive midfielder.
Busan IPark have been a tactically flexible side during the 2023 season, according to Wyscout, having deployed nine different formations, with 4-3-3 the highest share at just 16 per cent of league minutes. This may be important context relative to a Brendan Rodgers’ managed Celtic side.
The additional 1,837 minutes played during the 2023 K League 2 season has not shifted his profile much from the one Stewart observed late last year. It could be argued this is notable given that his team dropped down a competitive level and has been competing towards the top end of the league table.
Unsurprisingly given his role, Kwon did not contribute much to final third attacks, but even within the aspects of his play that are purportedly strengths, such as tackling and winning the ball back, he has not been a dominant force amongst his peers this season. He has remained an active midfielder, ranking high in the volume of duel actions across the board, but his efficiency in winning duels was also consistently below average.
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While a very tall midfielder at over six foot - his efficiency at winning aerial duels appeared to be a strength - but StatsBomb’s new HOPS metric offers some additional insight as to this potential skill by factoring in who Kwon has been winning headers against. Despite his height, his HOPS score placed him just below Alfredo Morelos, who was the closest recent Celtic or Rangers player within the group of players measured.
Stewart chronicled Kwon’s relative lack of ball progression last season - either through passing or carries - and that does not appear to have improved during the 2023 season to date. While he ranked just above average in progressive runs, his accelerations and the ratio of accelerations to progressive runs (one proxy I calculated that has correlated with pace in my prior benchmarking exercises) were well below average. Combined with a very low ranking for his efficiency at being successful via dribbles, along with his relatively low HOPS score for his height and basic athleticism which may be of concern.
Proxies for his intelligence as a player, such as playing with his head up and decision-making, appear to be a potential bright spot. His xA per shot assist ranks high, though sample size is an issue due to his relative lack of involvement in the final third, but that is also supported by the deep completions an through pass metrics. Also - despite what appears like may be an uninspiring athletic profile - his rate of fouling was around average.
Given the reported long-term interest in Kwon, his profile is similar to another tall defensive midfielder that was recently at Celtic: Oliver Abildgaard.
Concerns were stated about his profile at defensive midfield playing within Ange Postecoglou’s system when Abildgaard signed, and we can see from the benchmarking exercise conducted at the time (from his then most recent season in Russia) that his passing profile was not that dissimilar to Kwon’s, though obviously at a higher level. We can also see the disparity in various defensive and ball-carrying metrics, and Abildgaard ranked as the highest-scoring midfielder in the HOPS metric for aerial duels.
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It was speculated at the time, and particularly with Abildgaard being left footed, that he could be more suitable at Celtic as a centre-back playing under Postecoglou. Obviously, that was not the case and his time at the club was short. While Rodgers appears more likely to deploy formations that value more of a traditional ball-winning midfielder, Kwon’s profile for the role seems underwhelming via this specific exercise. Domestically, such a role is often unnecessary, though there could be some as-yet underutilised deep playmaking ability that could be unleashed.
However, it is in Europe where such a role may be more vital, yet it is a valid concern that he may lack the pace and power required to fulfil it at the required level. Similar to Abildgaard’s signing, it could be argued Kwon is not a natural fit in Celtic’s midfield, even with the presumed shifts expected under Rodgers. Perhaps he will be similar to Tomoki Iwata and offer the flexibility at centre-back back as well?
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