= Park Yong-woo (30), a midfielder for professional soccer’s K League 1 leader Ulsan Hyundai, is close to joining United Arab Emirates (UAE) club Al Ain FC.스포츠토토

“Al Ain has almost completed the signing of South Korean midfielder Park Yong-woo,” UAE media outlet Al Bayan reported on July 7. “All that remains are the details, including medical tests,” the report added. Once the official announcement is made, Park is expected to join the team’s training camp in Spain by the 29th.

Park graduated from Konkuk University in 2015 and made his professional debut with FC Seoul. He then moved to Ulsan in 2017 and has been with the club ever since, except for his military service. He has eight goals and four assists in 231 K League games.

This season, he has started 18 games and has been a key midfielder for Ulsan. Thanks to him, Ulsan is 13 points clear of second-place Pohang Steelers. Last month, he was also called up to Jürgen Klinsmann’s national team, earning two caps.

However, he was at the center of a racism controversy involving Ulsan Hyundai players last month, much to the disappointment of fans. He, along with several of his teammates and club staff, made racist remarks online that degraded Thailand international Sasalak, and were suspended for one game and fined 15 million won by the KFA.

Meanwhile, Park’s new club, Al Ain, is a prestigious club in the UAE that was founded in 1968. The club has won 14 league titles, the most in the history of the league. In the 2022/23 season, they finished second.